October 2015

Russia supplied a record amount of crude oil to China in September, surpassing Saudi Arabia for the second time as the top seller to the Asian giant, customs data showed, boosted by demand from independent refiners.

Gazprom goes on developing LNG sales from its portfolio. Over the first 6 months of 2015 it sold 22 LNG cargoes with the total volume exceeding 1.5 million tons, thus showing a 17 per cent increase as compared to the same period of the previous year. This is equivalent to the total LNG sales in 2013.

The API Director of Upstream Erik Milito released the following statement regarding the Obama administration’s decision to deny Arctic offshore development extension requests and scheduled 2016 and 2017 Arctic lease sales

Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports fell by 278,000 barrels per day in August, despite historically high wellhead production, while volumes of shipped refined oil products rose to a record high, official data showed on Sunday.

Pakistan and Russia signed a major agreement to build a 1,100-km gas pipeline from Lahore to Karachi, that will take cooperation between the two Cold War-era adversaries “to a new level”.

The foreign investment arm of India's top oil explorer ONGC is targeting $10-$12 billion of oil and gas asset purchases over the next three years, including more corporate acquisitions, its managing director said.

Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, believes the crude price will struggle to trade above $60 a barrel next year, as the effects of slowing global demand growth could be compounded by a return of Iranian and maybe even Libyan barrels.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) announced today that income from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2015 was $265 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, excluding special items. This compares to income from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2015 of $380 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, excluding special items. Adjusted operating income was $506 million in the third quarter of 2015, compared to adjusted operating income of $643 million in the second quarter of 2015. Halliburton's total revenue in the third quarter of 2015 was $5.6 billion, compared to $5.9 billion in the second quarter of 2015.

"The fourth-quarter oil demand will be mainly boosted by heating oil demand in Asia. And in 2016, North America and Asia will continue to drive the global oil demand growth," the country's third-largest refiner said in an earnings statement.

Two of the biggest independent oil explorers in the North Sea have predicted a further 10,000 jobs will be lost from the sector, indicating a growing acceptance that oil prices are stuck in a prolonged slump.