January 2016

The country's energy minister, who said in December that the global oil market could return to a balance by the end of 2016, as long as producers do not raise output from current levels, said on Thursday this may not now happen until early 2017.

"We're playing close attention to the price of oil, and of course that has an important impact on the Canadian dollar, which we're also paying close attention to. In that context, we know that it's doubly important that we think about how we can make investments that have an impact on the economy ... and also think about how we can improve our long-term effectiveness as a country and to increase our long-term rate of growth."

Russia’s OJSC Rosneft has entered a deal with BP PLC to dissolve their Ruhr Oel GMBH (ROG) joint venture as part of a plan by the companies to restructure their refining and petrochemical businesses in Germany.

Russia’s OJSC Rosneft has entered a deal with BP PLC to dissolve their Ruhr Oel GMBH (ROG) joint venture as part of a plan by the companies to restructure their refining and petrochemical businesses in Germany.

Nord Stream-2 project would develop rapidly in 2016. The pipeline extension project continues to move ahead, despite opposition to from several European countries

Russia's Gazprom and a group of European companies agreed on the project last year, raising protests mostly among central and southern European countries.

U.S. Rig Count is down 14 rigs from last week to 650, with oil rigs down 1 to 515, and gas rigs down 13 to 135.

Brent crude futures plunged more than 4 percent to near 12-year lows on Friday as the market braced for increased Iranian oil exports, with the lifting of international sanctions possible within days.

Forecast Brent crude oil prices average $40/b in 2016 and $50/b in 2017. Forecast West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices average $2/b lower than Brent in 2016 and $3/b lower in 2017. However, the current values of futures and options contracts continue to suggest high uncertainty in the price outlook.

The slowdown has been rapid. As recently as a year ago, US manufacturing production was growing at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent, says Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers. By November that had slowed to 0.9 per cent and this year Mr Moutray expects production to grow just 1.4 per cent.