In 2015 global demand for primary energy grew by only 1%, significantly slower than the 10-year average. This reflected continued weakness in the global economy and lower growth in Chinese energy consumption as the country shifts from an industrial to a service-driven economy.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $43/b in 2016 and $52/b in 2017, $3/b and $1/b higher than forecast in last month's STEO, respectively. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to be slightly lower than Brent in 2016 and to be the same as Brent in 2017.

London Brent crude for August delivery was up 9 cents at $51.53 a barrel by 0451 GMT, after settling up 89 cents on Tuesday. It earlier touched $51.55, the highest since Oct. 12.

The global benchmark, Brent, gained 1.15% to reach $50.21 a barrel. Its U.S. counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, was trading up 1.13% at $49.17 a barrel.

Prices need to be at level above $50 a barrel for more crude supplies to come back to the market following a slump over the past two years, Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, told reporters in his suite in a Vienna hotel.

“We will be very gentle in our approach, so we don’t shock the market in any way,” Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said before he sat down with his counterparts in Vienna on Thursday. “We are satisfied with the price movement over the last few months and think it will continue to gently edge up without much intervention, assuming that more or less OPEC production stays where it is.”

“We will be very gentle in our approach, so we don’t shock the market in any way,” Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said before he sat down with his counterparts in Vienna on Thursday. “We are satisfied with the price movement over the last few months and think it will continue to gently edge up without much intervention, assuming that more or less OPEC production stays where it is.”

Chinese exports of diesel began to increase rapidly in 2015, driven by a structural shift in China's economy—which is reducing diesel demand—and by reforms in China's refining sector, which are contributing to increased refinery utilization and diesel production. These two factors have pushed Chinese net diesel exports higher, to more than 300,000 barrels per day in April.

Себестоимость добычи «Газпрома» остается самой низкой в мире: порядка $20 за 1000 куб. м, несмотря на то что компания вводит новые труднодоступные месторождения, рассказал зампред правления «Газпрома» Александр Медведев.

Oil futures jumped 31 percent this year, climbing above $50 a barrel last week, as U.S. crude stockpiles declined, trimming a glut. Robust demand in India and other emerging nations led the International Energy Agency in May to reduce its estimate of the global oil surplus for the first half. Brent last traded above $60 in July.

“We’re facing a chance of a lifetime to become a global pricing center for commodities,” Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said at the Shanghai Futures Exchange’s annual conference in the city on Wednesday. “On the way to realize this goal, we’ll see very intense competition. We have the advantage of trading size and economic growth, but our legislation is still not sound and we lack enough talent.”

Over the last decade “many solutions had been tested and some, such as Europe’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), were only partially successful.”

Thanks to industry innovation and technological advancements, we’ve transitioned from an era of energy scarcity to an era of energy abundance. The new challenge is to keep moving forward, not backward. We must continue to think long term - continue to ensure access to new areas for safe and responsible energy development, and invest in reliable energy infrastructure - to protect U.S. consumers, businesses and national security for generations to come.

Khelil expects prices to increase to $70 to $80 a barrel or more after oil majors abandoned or shelved projects. Still, that rebound risks reviving U.S. shale drillers, said the two-time president of OPEC.

Nord Stream 2 – консорциум будущих акционеров проекта, куда входят «Газпром», BASF/Wintershall, Uniper, Engie, OMV и Shell. «Северный поток – 2» протяженностью около 1200 км пройдет по дну Балтийского моря от российского побережья до Германии. Пропускная способность двух ниток – 55 млрд куб. м в год, он должен вдвое увеличить мощность газопровода «Северный поток» .