The August Brent crude contract on London’s ICE fell 52¢ to $48.93/bbl, its lowest settlement since June 3. The September contract was also down 49¢ to $50.33/bbl. The July gas oil contract settled at $443.50/tonne on June 14, down $9.75.

U.S. oil production down 118 tbd, natural gas production down 476 mcfd.

PetroChina Co., the nation’s biggest producer, said in March it expects oil and gas output to fall the first time in 17 years as it shuts fields that have “no hope” of turning a profit, while Cnooc Ltd. sees output slipping as much as 5.2 percent this year.

The decline of 120,000 barrels a day, to 2.37 million barrels a day, underscores the inability of state energy company Petróleos de Venezuela SA to maintain oil-industry investments, as the region’s largest petroleum exporter suffers from a debilitating cash crunch, widespread food shortages and civil unrest.

Last year, Norway’s derived half of its oil and gas revenue from production taxes, 43% from the government’s direct ownership in oil and gas assets, and 7% from dividends paid by Statoil ASA, in which the government has a 67% stake.

The 400-kilometer pipeline, stretching from Iran to Oman is defined in two onshore and offshore sections. Land part of the gas pipeline extends for 200 kilometers from Rudan to Mobarak Mount in southern Hormozgan province. The seabed section between Iran and Sohar Port in Oman will stretch for another 200 kilometers.

Total amount of LNG will be gasified per year from terminal expected 7.2 Million MT Per Year that will make it Asia’s Biggest LNG Terminal.

The two companies signed the contracts after very difficult negotiations on Saturday evening. Managing Director of Sadaf Petrochemical Assaluyeh Company Ahmad Jazayeri said the Swiss company will help his company to build a plant for production of the synthetic polymer ESBR, a strategic product used in the petrochemical industry and rubber manufacturing.

The pipeline project has been stuck for years now because of sanctions on Iran. Pakistan has not been able to build the pipeline on its soil due to lack of funding. Iran has already built 900 km length of the pipeline on its territory while Pakistan still has to start work on the pipeline that would traverse its territory.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell to $49.74 per barrel, at 1327 GMT, down 80 cents, after trading as low as $49.61.

The new discovery is 12 km off shore, and 10 km north of last year’s find, Nooros. The well was drilled in water depth of 25 m and reached a total depth of 3,750 m and found about 62 m of net gas pay in high quality Messinian sandstones and with "excellent reservoir properties," according to Eni.

"Growth is expected to rebound in 2016, supported by exchange rate depreciation and accommodative monetary and fiscal policies, but uncertainty about oil prices, challenges in sustaining the global recovery, and elevated domestic vulnerabilities suggest risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside," the IMF said.

OPEC predicted that the global oil market will be more balanced in the second half of this year as demand rises and rival supplies falter, echoing views expressed by ministers at the group’s meeting this month.

U.S. Rig Count is up 4 rigs from last week to 414, with oil rigs up 3 at 328, gas rigs up 3 to 85, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 24 rigs from last week to 65, with oil rigs up 16 to 29, gas rigs up 8 to 36.

ONGC Videsh Ltd. signed a $1.16 billion nine-month bridge loan on May 19 to fund the purchase of a 15 percent stake in Vankor field in Siberia from Russia’s Rosneft OAO, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indian Oil Corp. plans a $1.2 billion fundraising for Russian investments in three or four months, including short- and long-term loans, Finance Director A.K. Sharma said in an interview on Wednesday. The average margin over benchmark rates on non-rupee loans for Indian refiners and explorers was 74 basis points this year, the lowest since 2006, the data show.