Russia’s crude production continuing to grow this year by around 100,000 b/d or even slightly above this figure. The growth is supported by investments made in previous years.

The aggregate net debt of the 15 largest North American and European oil groups rose to $383bn at the end of March, up $97bn from 12 months ago.

The average price of LNG shipments into the country was about $6.32 per million British thermal units in April, the least since August 2005, according to Bloomberg calculations based on preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance. Prices are expected to rebound in coming months as crude values have surged, according to Junzo Tamamizu, managing partner at Clavis Energy Partners LLC.

Saudi Arabia’s debt plans come as falling oil prices encourage other Gulf countries, including Abu Dhabi and Oman, to turn to capital markets for funding, setting a new record for borrowing by Middle Eastern governments so far in 2016. This week, Qatar said it was looking to tap dollar bond markets for the first time in five years.

Oil Search Ltd. has moved to consolidate natural-gas developments on Papua New Guinea with a US$2.2 billion deal to buy U.S.-listed midsize energy company InterOil Corp amid a growing natural gas glut.

The US officials gave a positive assessment of Ukraine's sourcing of gas from Europe and the ongoing reform at Naftogaz and Ukraine’s gas market. They also commended the implementation of the corporate governance reform, which was based on OECD principles for state-owned enterprises.

"[Oil’s recent rise] is not enough," said Dicker. "You can’t find the financing to keep the lights on at $50 oil. Most of these guys won’t be able to keep the lights on at $65 or $70 oil."

Many companies on the teetering on the brink of insolvency find themselves buried under high interest rates and lack of deployable capital due to low commodity prices. Many banks have cut oil company credit lines as part of the semi-annual review by lenders. But the combined $8.9 billion in debt between the eighteen companies still looms ever menacingly in the background.

Oil and gas producers depend largely on bank credit lines to run their businesses. Cmpanies getting ready to restructure are working closely with their bankers before filing for bankruptcy.

As the number of failed operators mounts, the surviving companies are laying the groundwork for what they forecast will be an era of slower but steadier growth in the state at the epicenter of the U.S.’s energy boom.

State-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA raised $6.75 billion on Tuesday from a sale of five- and 10-year dollar-denominated bonds, in a closely watched return to global debt markets after the suspension of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Chevron Corp on Tuesday said it will slash its budget by at least 17% for the next two years to save cash due to the low crude oil prices.

China is Russia’s biggest single trade partner, with its share rising to 12.8 percent from 12 percent in 2015. Even so, the overall turnover of goods fell by 26 percent last year to $68.1 billion. That means the countries are far off reaching their target of $100 billion in trade.

Socar President Rovnag Abdullaev disclosed last week that Azerbaijan was in the process of negotiating an agreement under which it would purchase 3-5bn m³/yr of gas from Gazprom.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is Russia’s business climate. While frequently fodder for criticism, there’s progress. Russia has surged by 61 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index since 2013 to 51st this year.