According to documents prepared by the oil ministry and obtained by NGE in mid-March, South Pars produces a little less than half of Iran's total raw gas, meaning Iran's total raw gas production was above 260bn m3 in the last fiscal year.

The sale of Aramco, or Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is planned for 2018 or even a year earlier, according to the prince. The fund will then play a major role in the economy, investing at home and abroad. It would be big enough to buy Apple Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- the world’s four largest publicly traded companies.

Production at Khafji was halted in October 2014 because of environmental concerns. The 300,000-b/d field lies in the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone. Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations Co. jointly operate it. Neither company commented on restart reports.

The international oil company said on Wednesday it was co-operating with officials from both the Netherlands and Italy as they investigate the $1.1bn deal, which Shell signed five years ago alongside Eni, the Italian oil company.

BP’s Energy Outlook for 2016 forecasts that by 2035 shale gas will account for a quarter of total gas produced globally and China will become the world’s largest contributor to growth in shale gas production.

The framework agreement includes opportunities for joint investment in future oil and gas exploration, and possible oil and gas trading deals, including LNG.

But in order to extract those resources, BP has had to wage a battle to control inflated costs and root out fraud, internal documents and interviews with former employees of BP and its contractors show.

U.S. Rig Count is down 14 rigs from last week to 450, with oil rigs down 10 to 362, and gas rigs down 4 to 88. Canadian Rig Count is down 6 rigs from last week to 49, with oil rigs unchanged at 11, and gas rigs down 6 to 38.

NEO - The Koch Brothers emerged stronger than ever, along with a slew of smaller oil tycoons, who lack the kind of longstanding and entrenched influence wielded by the Rockefeller dynasty.

The world’s biggest oil exporter lost ground to rivals in nine out of 15 top markets between 2013 and 2015, including China, South Africa and the US, according to an analysis of customs data.

The world’s biggest oil exporter, known as Saudi Aramco, won’t cancel any oil, gas or refining projects, Amin Nasser told reporters during a conference in Al-Ahsa in eastern Saudi Arabia. Aramco is also studying a possible expansion of the country’s largest oil refinery, Ras Tanura, which has a capacity of 550,000 barrels a day, he said Wednesday.

China, the world's top energy user, is keen to boost cleaner burning natural gas consumption to tackle air pollution.

Even if demand can rise to meet existing and under construction supply, this doesn't necessarily support the development of a raft of proposed projects.

The drilling cost per foot, based on total depth, and the completion cost per foot, based on lateral length, are both projected to maintain these lower cost trends through 2018. Sustained lower upstream costs may affect near-term oil and natural gas markets, and ultimately, the prices of these fuels.

The deal, which resolves arbitration proceedings between E.ON and Gazprom, will lead to a positive one-off effect of about 380 million euros ($425 million) on E.ON's core earnings (EBITDA) in the first quarter of 2016.