Trade between the countries fell overall last year as oil prices dropped. Japan's 2.1 trillion yen ($18.6 billion) in imports from Saudi Arabia in 2016, mostly oil and gas, dwarfed its exports of 546.3 billion yen ($4.8 billion).

EIA forecasts Brent crude oil prices to average $55/b in 2017 and $57/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are expected to average about $1/b less than Brent prices in the forecast. NYMEX contract values for May 2017 delivery traded during the five-day period ending March 2 suggest that a range of $46/b to $63/b encompasses the market expectation for WTI prices in May 2017 at the 95% confidence level.

A significant, years-long oil supply crunch may be approaching due to insufficient investment in exploration and production, Hess CEO John Hess said Monday at IHS CERAWeek.

«Изменения топливно-энергетического баланса неизбежны, однако резких потрясений в ближайшие десятилетия мы не ждем – доля углеводородов может снизиться с 80% до 75%, при этом газ останется основным видом топлива и займет еще большую нишу. Таким образом, изменения мирового топливного баланса будут носить скорее эволюционный, а не революционный характер», - констатировал Александр Новак.

The Norwegian economy is slowly picking up after a two-year slowdown in its top industry, oil production, due to a halving of crude prices since mid-2014. In recent months, crude prices have risen and stabilised at around $55 per barrel.

The worldwide rig count for February 2017 was 2,027, up 109 from the 1,918 counted in January 2017, and up 266 from the 1,761 counted in February 2016.

U.S. Rig Count is up 267 rigs from last year's count of 489, with oil rigs up 217, gas rigs up 49, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 206 rigs from last year's count of 129, with oil rigs up 147 and gas rigs up 59.

Crude oil flows from the Kirkuk fields in northern Iraq were briefly disrupted on Thursday after a Kurdish faction seized a pumping facility in protest at the policies of Baghdad and Erbil, adding a new threat to Iraq’s attempts to comply with Opec’s agreed cuts.

Exports in January expanded 13.6 percent from a year earlier, the biggest gain since October 2015, but just missing the 15.0 percent increase forecast. In December, exports rose 10.7 percent. Data from the International Trade and Industry Ministry showed exports of mining goods increased 18.8 percent on stronger demand for crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

The LUKOIL Group oil production for the fourth quarter and twelve months of 2016 was 22.7 and 92.0 million tonnes, respectively. Production for the fourth quarter excluding compensation crude oil from West Qurna-2 project in Iraq increased by 2.5% compared to the third quarter of 2016.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, Eni reported an adjusted operating profit of €1.29 billion, up by 103% or €0.65 billion quarter-on-quarter, reversing the negative trend of the previous quarters, thanks to doubling in the E&P operating performance to €1.4 billion (up by €0.8 billion).

Gazprom’s projects were strategically important for Russia’s energy security. The projects make gas supplies to domestic and foreign consumers more reliable and create conditions for further strengthening the Company’s position in the global energy market. All of Gazprom’s priority projects are on schedule.

Доля атомной энергетики в общем объёме энергобаланса страны – 16-17%, гидрогенерации – 18%, газ - порядка 40%. Несмотря на то, что на сегодняшний день в России оптимальный энергетический баланс, Минэнерго России будет его менять в сторону увеличения объемов возобновляемых источников энергии. «Сейчас это 0,2%. Планируем выйти на 3% - до 6 тысяч МВт за счёт различных механизмов поддержки ВИЭ», - резюмировал Александр Новак.

The growing world economy will require more energy, but consumption is expected to grow less quickly than in the past - at 1.3% per year over the Outlook period (2015-2035) compared with 2.2% per year in 1995-2015.

Saudi oil giant Aramco IPO-ARMO.SE will buy an equity stake in Malaysian firm Petronas' refining and petrochemicals project in the southeast Asian country, the companies confirmed on Tuesday, investing a total of $7 billion.