The U.S. shale boom—which reshaped world markets for crude oil and natural gas before Mr. Trump took office—has only limited impact on Russia’s standing as a major energy provider to Europe and Asia.

Directors underscored that accelerated structural reforms and broader trade relations can help promote a diversified export mix. They also urged the authorities to strengthen property rights, advance privatization, improve governance, and invest in innovation and infrastructure to build the foundations for higher potential growth.

The economy is weathering the post-2014 oil shock well. The key policy goal is to foster economic adjustment to the new oil market realities. To foster the adjustment, especially given downside risks, the momentum in fiscal reforms needs to be sustained and coordinated with structural reforms. To ensure credibility, fiscal adjustment should be accompanied by strengthening the medium-term policy framework and improving transparency. Ongoing initiatives to upgrade the supervisory and regulatory framework for the financial sector are welcome and need to continue. Focused, multi-pronged initiatives to raise productivity and diversify the economy would improve medium-term economic prospects. Amid ongoing economic adjustment, continued improvements in statistics are critical for enhancing policy analysis and decision-making.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $48.35 per barrel at 0443 GMT (12:43 a.m. ET), but up 3.5 percent for the week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $45.97 per barrel, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, but up around 4 percent over the week.

EIA now forecasts Brent crude oil spot prices to average $51 per barrel (b) in 2017 and $52/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are expected to be $2/b lower than Brent prices in 2017 and 2018.

I think there are three areas where we should focus our efforts. The first is excellence in our operations, or as this session’s title puts it, leadership in responsible operations. The second, is sustainability in our products - fully realising the benefits of both natural gas and renewables as well as our Downstream product range. And the third is collaboration, or simply working together, in our partnerships - the kind of working together that makes new things happen and drives real change.

From 2012 through the end of 2015, debt was a significant source of capital for the producers included in the analysis, with the addition of a cumulative $55.3 billion in net debt. Since the beginning of 2016, however, these producers have reduced debt by $1.4 billion. The combination of higher equity and lower debt has resulted in the long-term debt-to-equity ratio, a measure of financial leverage, declining from 88% to 80% for the group of companies as a whole between the first quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.

Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous day as the U.S. government cut its crude production outlook for next year and as fuel inventories plunged. Brent crude futures were up 60 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $48.12 per barrel by 0657 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $45.72 per barrel, up 68 cents, or 1.5 percent.

Saudi Arabia will cut crude oil shipments to its customers in August by more than 600,000 barrels per day to balance the rise in domestic consumption during the summer, while staying within its OPEC production commitment, a Saudi industry source said.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $47.08 per barrel at 0537 GMT, up 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $44.60 per barrel, up 37 cents, or 0.8 percent.

Because two major crude oil price benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent, account for 70% of the weighting in the S&P GSCI energy index, the energy index tends to follow major price movements in the crude oil market. During the first half of 2017, WTI crude oil prices declined by 12%, while Brent prices fell 14%.

The August light, sweet crude contract on NYMEX dropped $1.94 on July 5 to settle at $45.13/bbl. The September contract was down $1.95 to close at $45.34/bbl. The NYMEX natural gas price for August declined 11¢ to a rounded $2.84/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $2.90/MMbtu on July 5, down 4¢ from June 30, the last available price for the US gas spot price. The Brent crude contract for September on London’s ICE decreased $1.82 to $47.79/bbl while the October contract dropped $1.83 to $48.07/bbl. The July gas oil contract was down $6.75 to $442.25/tonne. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes on July 5 was $47.04/bbl, down 53¢.

Novak said prices had room to rise from current levels and said inventories in industrialized nations were expected to ease back to the five-year average thanks to the decision by OPEC and its allies to extend supply curbs from the first half of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced 32.49 million b/d in June—an increase of 220,000 b/d from May and representing a 6-month high.

In the report -- trailed in May at the Flame conference in Amsterdam -- the IGU also confirmed that the average global wholesale gas price averaged just $3.35/MMBtu in 2016, the lowest price in any survey done by the IGU since it started in 2005.