A U.S. regulatory judge ruled BP PLC manipulated the Texas natural gas market in 2008 and said fines against the British energy company could increase because the scheme took place after earlier market manipulation.

Russian energy giant Gazprom estimates the cost of constructing the first branch of the Turkish Stream pipeline at €4.3 billion ($4.72 billion), while the overall price tag for all four legs of this project are estimated at €11.4 billion, First Deputy Head of Gazprom's Project Management Department Aleksei Serebryakov said Monday.

U.S. oil and gas company ConocoPhillips is reviewing its portfolio in Indonesia and may soon seek buyers for a stake in a production sharing block it operates in the Natuna Sea, company and government sources said.

During the quarter, Apache closed the sales of its LNG business, and remaining oil and gas assets in Australia . “Exiting these businesses eliminated our exposure to projects with large capital-spending commitments and uncertain project timing,” said John J. Christmann IV, Apache chief executive officer.

The U.S. declared one of Russia’s largest offshore oil and natural gas fields off limits to American tools and expertise, potentially disrupting Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s plans to liquefy the fossil fuel for export.

Total sales (net of excise tax, VAT and customs duties) increased by RUB 89,516 million, or 6 %, to RUB 1,648,253 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2014.

U.S. Rig Count is up 10 rigs from last week to 884, with oil rigs up 6 to 670, gas rigs up 4 to 213, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. U.S. Rig Count is down 1,024 rigs from last year at 1,908, with oil rigs down 918, gas rigs down 103, and miscellaneous rigs down 3. The U.S. Offshore rig count is 38, up 4 rigs from last week, and down 24 rigs year over year.

The total U.S. trade deficit peaked at $762 billion in 2006, prior to the surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production. By 2014, it had dropped to $508 billion.

The six nations that make up Central Asia hold at least 11% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, as well as substantial deposits of oil and coal, according to data compiled by BP. Afghanistan says its mineral wealth is valued at $1 trillion to $3 trillion.

“Russia sits on 25% of the world’s gas reserves and is very, very close to markets that we are very familiar with,” Van Beurden said July 30, on the sidelines of the company’s earnings presentation. Shell is also pushing “to see how we can work with Gazprom internationally.”

The Arctic has become a theatre for rival claims over a sea floor believed to be rich in minerals, oil and gas.

The United States is now the world’s leading producer of natural gas. With LNG exports scheduled to begin within the next six months, America’s oil and gas renaissance will soon provide both substantial domestic and foreign economic benefits. If US LNG can be imported into regions where there is only a single, monopolistic producer, then strategic benefits could accrue as well.

In the medium term, Iran’s gas will not be able to compete with the Russian gas in the European market.

US LNG export projects face an uncertain future despite continued discoveries and production growth, a Brookings Institution analyst said. “More liquefaction capacity may be coming than markets can absorb,” warned Tim Boersma, acting director of Brookings’s Energy Security and Climate Initiative.

In May 2008, the company’s market capitalization reached $367.27 billion, making it one of world’s most valuable companies, according to a survey compiled by the Financial Times. Gazprom’s deputy chair, Alexander Medvedev, repeatedly predicted at the time that within a decade the Russian energy giant could be worth $1 trillion.