2015

The economic battle that is currently taking shape will have global ramifications for many years to come. Energy is certainly playing a major role in this economic battle, with Moscow seeking to counteract the desire of Washington and Brussels to divide Russia from Europe. The Russian government unquestionably has massive power owing to the amount of energy exportation that it is involved in, and a lack of cooperation in this regard would certainly be damaging to numerous Western companies and countries alike.

Europe could take advantage of global LNG dynamics, but much of the evolution of the European LNG market depends on Gazprom’s decisions in the short to medium term,

After the cancellation of the South Stream natural gas pipeline last December due to the EU’s blockage of the project, Russia announced an alternative project called the Turkish Stream which will hit the shore on the European side of Turkey near Kıyıköy.

Saudi Arabia has signed a commitment to invest up to $10 billion in Russia, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said Monday.

Oil prices suffered their biggest selloff in five months on Monday, falling as much as 8 percent as Greece's rejection of debt bailout terms and China's stock market woes set off a deepening spiral of losses.

Rosneft Brasil (Rosneft subsidiary) and PetroRio received approval by the Brazilian National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) for the Rosneft Brasil transaction to acquire additional 55% in the Solimoes project. Under the agreement the final completion date of the purchase and transaction shall be agreed between PetroRio and Rosneft Brasil and is expect to occur within 30 days.

Petroleum product exports averaged 4.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first four months of the year, the latest monthly data available. This was an increase of 0.5 million b/d over the same time last year.

U.S. Rig Count is up 3 rigs from last week to 862, with oil rigs up 12 to 640, gas rigs down 9 to 219, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 3.

Worldwide, job cuts from the oil bust reached a staggering 150,000 at the end of May, according to energy recruiting firm Swift Worldwide Resources. However, some analysts believe the worst is over, and by the end of the year, the US could see a stout recovery. Analysts tend to agree that a slowdown in non-OPEC production, led by U.S. shale producers, and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly Iraq, would support prices this year.

“Shale was the biggest event to happen in the past decade. As shale gas production increases every year, LNG import levels have dropped drastically in the United States. In 2014, they imported only 1.6 bcm compared to 200 bcm of their total import capacity. Now, it’s expected to become an LNG exporter by the end of this year at the earliest.”