2016

Iran needs $20bn to develop the remaining phases of the South Pars gas field, energy minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said

Natural gas demand is expected to rise to 199 billion cubic meters in 2016, Zhu Fang, head of market information department at the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association told Reuters after a media briefing by the association on Tuesday in Beijing.

Oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron have already slashed tens of thousands jobs globally to deal with a near 75 percent drop in oil prices since June 2014 that has seen earnings collapse.

“The advent of [more sellers of] LNG is another challenge of the gas market,” Adeli said and noted that the U.S. has utilised modern technologies to produce gas from shale, so that the country has been turned from a gas importer to an exporter. Australia, another OECD country with no interest in joining organisations that could be seen as cartels, is already an LNG exporter and its output is rising sharply over the coming few years.

Crude's collapse from $100 a barrel since mid-2014 has already pummeled Russia, which relies on energy for about half its budget revenues and 40 percent of its exports. The latest slide compounds the problems facing President Vladimir Putin ahead of elections in 2018.

"We are certain the Chinese economy will grow only slowly and that the yuan will depreciate in 2016," said a senior trader with a Shanghai-based fund. "The biggest uncertainty we have is how much the yuan will depreciate, which could revalue metals in China and affect our bets."

The escalating rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is intensifying bilateral market competition, which some observers say eclipses in importance Saudi concern over expansion of supply from North America.

Having a robust regulatory approval system is critical for governments—and the energy sector–to ensure that energy products get to world markets safely and in environmentally friendly, socially accepted ways

The IPO proposal is consistent with the broader direction of economic reform in the kingdom, including state asset sales and market deregulation, Aramco said. Bringing in investors would also strengthen the company’s focus on long-term growth and the prudent management of its reserves, according to the statement.

U.S. Rig Count is down 34 rigs from last week to 664, with oil rigs down 20 to 516, and gas rigs down 14 to 148.