The biggest increase was seen in the consumption of gas-to-power by industrial customers, which increased by 161% to reach a total of 10.8% of overall consumption. The transmission operator attributes the increase in industrial demand to "favourable economic conditions."

"Just because I’ve built a pipeline, that doesn't mean that you have to buy my gas, the idea that that somehow it's undermining diversification of sources is just not true."

U.S. Rig Count is down 13 rigs from last week to 637, with oil rigs down 5 to 510, and gas rigs down 8 to 127.

U.S. stocks are rising Friday as energy prices continue to climb and give a boost to energy companies. A global rally lifted stocks in Asia and Europe. After two days of gains, major indexes in the U.S. are set to rise for the first week in the last four.

The February crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.81 to settle at $29.53/bbl on Jan. 21. The March contract was up $1.14 to settle at $30.83/bbl. The NYMEX natural gas contract for February gained 2¢ to a rounded $2.14/MMbtu. The Henry Hub gas price was $2.20/MMbtu on Jan. 21, up 6¢.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $30.64 a barrel at 0634 GMT, up $1.11 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $1.36 to $30.61 a barrel. At one point, Brent prices reached $31.10 a barrel and Nymex rose as high as to $31.04 a barrel.

Investors have pulled billions from US stock funds for the third straight week amid sharp market gyrations, which have frayed investor nerves as global equity bourses slid deeper into correction territory.

Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard commented, "Full-year 2015 revenue of $35.5 billion decreased 27% year-on-year in line with upstream capex spending cuts that resulted in significantly lower E&P investment levels."

According to preliminary figures for 2015, the gas deliveries grew by 23.6 per cent to 1.7 billion cubic meters.

В ходе встречи обсуждался ход реализации проекта строительства в Пакистане газопровода «Север-Юг», который станет первым крупным совместным проектом в нефтегазовой сфере в новейшей истории двух стран, и перспективы поставок сжиженного природного газа на регазификационные мощности Пакистана.

Ukraine, once one of Russia’s biggest foreign gas buyers, had a debt of more than $29 billion before Tuesday’s bill, according to Gazprom. Naftogaz has demanded almost $26 billion from Gazprom in Stockholm arbitration, claiming it overpaid for supplies and was paid too little for transit, with a court ruling not expected before the middle of the year.

Particular attention was given to the Nord Stream 2 project. The parties noted that in light of the declining European gas production, the construction of this gas pipeline was crucial for meeting the growing Russian gas demand in Europe in the future.

Iran is in a good position to deliver on its target to raise oil output by 500,000 b/d within six weeks and by a further 500,000 b/d six months after that.

Flint Hills Resources LLC, the refining arm of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch’s industrial empire, said it offered to pay $1.50 a barrel Friday for North Dakota Sour, a high-sulfur grade of crude, according to a corrected list of prices posted on its website Monday. It had previously posted a price of -$0.50. The crude is down from $13.50 a barrel a year ago and $47.60 in January 2014.

«Мы планируем сохранить объем добычи нефти в 2016 году на уровне 2015 года. Наш прогноз - 533-534 млн тонн на этот год» - отметил Алексей Текслер. Первый замглавы ведомства добавил, что на прежнем уровне сохранятся и объемы экспорта: «Незначительное увеличение по отношению к 2015 году возможно за счет увеличения глубины внутренней переработки».