National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) reported a fourth quarter 2016 net loss of $714 million, or $1.90 per share. Excluding other items, net loss for the quarter was $57 million, or $0.15 per share. Other items totaled $706 million, pretax, and were primarily associated with inventory charges, facility closures, and severance.

The worldwide rig count for January 2017 was 1,918, up 146 from the 1,772 counted in December 2016, and up 27 from the 1,891 counted in January 2016.

With India's oil demand showing no signs of slowing, which in turn is attracting a lot of multinational firms to set up shop in the country, the government is stepping up efforts to ensure that state-run oil companies are on equal footing to compete, not just with domestic private players but also with global oil firms.

U.S. Rig Count is up 158 rigs from last year's count of 571, with oil rigs up 116, gas rigs up 41, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 101 rigs from last year's count of 242, with oil rigs up 66 and gas rigs up 35.

Therefore, OPEC has raised its supply to Asia, and Russia has also re-routed a great chunk of its rising production toward China and the Asia-Pacific over the past decade. Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as China's biggest supplier last year, exporting 1.05 million bpd of crude versus Saudi Arabia's 1.02 million.

China's apparent oil demand slipped into the negative territory in 2016, a sharp reversal from the near 7% growth witnessed a year earlier, as the country's slowest GDP growth in 26 years slashed appetite for industrial and transportation fuels in Asia's biggest oil consuming nation.

Global oil and gas deal activity in 2016 recovered from a slow start to the year with help from the announcements of midstream and oilfield services (OFS) megadeals. Deal value increased in 2016 to US$395 billion from US$340 billion in 2015, while deal volume fell by 27% year-on-year.

Exxon Mobil Corporation today announced estimated 2016 earnings of $7.8 billion, or $1.88 per diluted share. An asset recoverability review was completed in the fourth quarter and resulted in a U.S. Upstream asset impairment charge of about $2 billion mainly related to dry gas operations with undeveloped acreage in the Rocky Mountains region of the U.S. Excluding the impairment charge, full year earnings were $9.9 billion compared with $16.2 billion a year earlier, reflecting lower commodity prices and refining margins.

Shell has agreed to sell a package of UK North Sea assets to Chrysaor for a total of up to $3.8bn, including an initial consideration of $3.0bn and a payment of up to $600m between 2018-2021 subject to commodity price, with potential further payments of up to $180m for future discoveries.

Shell has reached an agreement with KUFPEC Thailand Holdings Pte Limited, a subsidiary of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC), for the sale of subsidiary companies Shell Integrated Gas Thailand Pte Limited and Thai Energy Co Limited, which together hold a 22.222% equity stake held in the Bongkot field, and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand consisting of Blocks 15, 16 and 17 and block G12/48, for USD 900 million.

London Brent crude for March delivery had dropped 28 cents to $55.24 a barrel by 0657 GMT, after settling down 72 cents on Friday. NYMEX crude for March delivery was down 23 cents at $52.90 a barrel.

Igor Yusufov, Russia’s energy minister from 2001 to 2004, said U.S. shale producers wouldn’t attempt to enter core OPEC and Russia markets where prices are too low for them to compete. “The fact is that shale oil and gas are doing well in markets that start from a certain price,” he said in an email exchange with The Wall Street Journal.

“Today’s action to reapply for the Keystone XL Pipeline’s cross-border permit is an important step forward to building a 21st Century energy infrastructure system across our nation,” said Gerard. “The Keystone XL Pipeline would support tens of thousands of jobs, contribute billions of dollars to our economy, and deliver energy efficiently and safely to consumers.

Venezuela's president on Sunday created an executive vice president post and named new vice presidents to lead PDVSA in what he described as a shake-up of the state oil company and an effort to root out corruption in the OPEC nation's principal industry.

U.S. Rig Count is up 93 rigs from last year's count of 619, with oil rigs up 68, gas rigs up 24, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 114 rigs from last year's count of 231, with oil rigs up 74 and gas rigs up 40.