U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 463, with oil rigs up 3 to 374, gas rigs down 2 to 86, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 3. Canadian Rig Count is up 17 rigs from last week to 119, with oil rigs up 12 to 60, gas rigs up 5 to 58, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.

Statoil ASA (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (“Petrobras”) (BVMF: PETR4, NYSE:PBR) have agreed that Statoil will acquire Petrobras’ 66% operated interest of the BM-S-8 offshore licence in Brazil’s highly prolific Santos basin. The acquisition includes a substantial part of the Carcará oil discovery, one of the largest discoveries in the world in recent years.

“Advances like the Bay of Bengal discovery will help unlock the global energy resource potential of gas hydrates as well help define the technology needed to safely produce them,” said Walter Guidroz, USGS Energy Resources Program coordinator.

"We recognise that market conditions are currently very difficult but nevertheless we have a shared goal of making the basin as attractive as possible for exploration," Andy Samuel, chief executive of the OGA, said.

Объёмы добычи нефти за первое полугодие составили 270 миллионов тонн – это на 2,1 процента выше по отношению к прошлому полугодию. «По газу мы увеличили объёмы экспорта в первом полугодии по сравнению с прошлым годом примерно на шесть миллиардов кубических метров, или на 6,8 процента. По нефти прирост составил 6,2 процента, по углю – 8,2 процента. В этом году впервые общий объём экспорта угля на восток превысил западное направление», - доложил Министр.

The Philippines relies overwhelmingly on imports to fuel its fast-growing economy. That reliance will grow further in a few years when the main source of domestic natural gas runs out, so the clock is ticking for it to develop offshore fields that China shows no sign of loosening its grip on.

U.S. Rig Count is up 15 rigs from last week to 462, with oil rigs up 14 to 371, gas rigs down 1 to 88, and miscellaneous rigs up 2 to 3. Canadian Rig Count is up 7 rigs from last week to 102, with oil rigs up 4 to 48, gas rigs up 3 to 53, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.

Higher and more stable crude oil prices are contributing to increased drilling in the United States, which may slow the pace of production declines. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices averaged $46.59 per barrel (b) over the last three weeks, a 40% increase over the average price in the first quarter.

U.S. oil production down 99 tbd, gas production down 417 mcfd.

Production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries climbed to an eight-year high last month, boosted by the re-admission of Gabon, which swelled the number of members to 14, the IEA said. The group’s crude output rose 400,000 barrels a day to 33.21 million a day as Saudi Arabia boosted production to meet peak domestic demand during the summer and as Iran continued its export recovery following the end of international sanctions in January.

Oil prices have recovered more than 70 percent from the 12-year low reached earlier this year as OPEC’s strategy to pressure rivals with lower prices slowly succeeds in eliminating a surplus. Output in the U.S. has retreated to a two-year low as the boom in shale oil production faltered, while Saudi Arabia told OPEC it raised output last month close to a record.

Iran exports about 2 million barrels of its daily output of 3.8 million, said Mohsen Ghamsari, NIOC’s director of international affairs. The country has regained about 80 percent of the market share it held before the U.S. and European Union tightened sanctions on its oil industry in 2012, he said. Sanctions were eased in January, and Iran plans to double crude exports.

The worldwide rig count for June 2016 was 1,407, up 2 from the 1,405 counted in May 2016, and down 729 from the 2,136 counted in June 2015.

Estimated U.S. oil well completions decreased by 69 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared to year-ago levels, according to API's 2016 Quarterly Well Completion Report, Second Quarter.

The world’s top energy exporter is enduring the longest economic downturn of Putin’s 16-year rule. It relies on crude oil export duties and extraction taxes for about 23 percent of its budget. The government is running the widest deficit since 2010 after a slump in oil prices and is looking for options to cover the gap, including selling state assets, cutting spending and discussing a tax overhaul.