In terms of oil and gas reserves per capita, Qatar is still “well ahead” of the other major oil and gas producers with 83,600 barrels of oil equivalent in 2014.

Germany’s Wintershall agreed Thursday to sell stakes in several North Sea assets and fields to Tellus Petroleum for a combined $602 million.

The parties confirmed their intention to create a joint venture for gas and condensate offshore production in Venezuela as part of Mariscal Sucre project. The signed document provides for performing of additional joint research aimed at selection of optimum plan of this project implementation.

From June 2014 to May 2015, when the oil and gas prices as measured by the PPI fell by 49%, the PPI by industry classification showed the following changes: - Rates for drilling activities, which primarily represent service fees for contractors to drill oil and gas wells, declined by 19.6%. - Rates for support activities, which include the surveying, cementing, casing, and otherwise treating wells, declined by 1.4%. - The price of sands primarily used for hydraulic fracturing declined 12.5%.

U.S. Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 857, with oil rigs down 4 to 631, gas rigs up 2 to 223, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 3. U.S. Rig Count is down 1001 rigs from last year at 1858, with oil rigs down 914, gas rigs down 88, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. The U.S. Offshore rig count is 27, down 2 rigs from last week, and down 32 rigs year over year.

Itera, a 100% Rosneft subsidiary, and General Electric signed an agreement of intent regarding natural gas processing cooperation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

US Arctic oil and gas policies should recognize the industry’s extensive global Far North experience and technology, American Petroleum Institute officials said. “If we don’t use this knowledge, other Arctic nations will move to the forefront of energy development there,” API Upstream Operations Director Erik Milito told reporters at a June 12 briefing.

In Budapest, Mr. Šefčovič reported that, in the wake of the cancellation of South Stream last December, all parties in Europe have been paying attention to statements from Russia, as a gas supplier, and Europe's stance on infrastructure has been altered.

Deepwater oil projects and complex gas facilities worth around $200 billion have been cancelled or put on hold worldwide in recent months due to the sharp drop in oil prices over the past year, consultancy Ernst and Young said.

"Uncertainty is the rule of the game in this industry," the head of France's Total Patrick Pouyanne said this month. "We are in the long-term business. This is why at Total we are keen to maintain our commitment to Russia."

“Now we are facing a stagnant demand both for oil and gas globally. These two commodities are providing 70% of Russian export and 50% of Russian federal budget revenues, so you can imagine how painful that is.”

Gazprom revived its contract with Italian contractor Saipem (controlled by state-run Eni SpA). The Milan-based company had signed two contracts worth €2.4 bn in total for the construction of an undersea pipeline and support services for construction of a second undersea pipeline, both part of much touted South Stream. The contract terms are now being renegotiated, so as to start construction in time for the 2016 deadline.

China’s ambassador to the Philippines has suggested that the two countries sit down for talks on the most squeamish territorial dispute in Asia. The question of who controls the fishery-rich, 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea, also full of oil and natural gas as well as major world shipping lanes, could proceed from military preparations to a calm negotiating room. The two governments – both unusually aggressive in asserting rival claims to the sea — might be able to work something out. The Philippines is talking now to Taiwan to agree on law enforcement in their own overlapping waters.

U.S. Rig Count is down 9 rigs from last week to 859, with oil rigs down 7 to 635, gas rigs down 1 to 221, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 3. U.S. Rig Count is down 995 rigs from last year at 1854, with oil rigs down 907, gas rigs down 89, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. The U.S. Offshore rig count is 29, up 2 rigs from last week, and down 30 rigs year over year.

According to Statistics Norway, total investments in oil and gas activity in 2016 should be NOK 184.9 billion, which is 1.4% higher than the corresponding estimate for 2015.