Natural-gas prices plunged to a 14-year low, as the warmest start to winter on record in the U.S. saps demand for the heating fuel and deals another blow to struggling energy companies.

Shell is consulting experts and commercial partners about what to do with the reinforced concrete base structures, each of which rises 160m from the seabed and weighs about 300,000 tonnes. The low oil price has put companies under pressure to shut facilities as cheaply as possible.

By 2035 global energy consumption increases by 37% from today’s levels with virtually all (96%) the growth in non-OECD countries and more than half coming from India and China.

Russia is against an increase in global crude production, rather than favouring a reduction, and remains pessimistic about the possibility of Moscow and Riyadh reaching a production coordination deal, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said Thursday. "We are in favor of, not a cut, but of countries not increasing their output, so that demand, which is growing year-by-year, is covered by the oversupply that exists in the market," Novak said.

"These assets are profitable, well maintained and are an important part of New Zealand's energy mix," Shell New Zealand Chairman Rob Jager said in a statement Thursday. "The Shell business in New Zealand is great, but a small part of the global Shell business and hence the decision to undertake a strategic review at this time."

The company also expects to close $2.3 billion of noncore asset sales, including $600 million from transactions that closed through the first three quarters of 2015. The remaining $1.7 billion represents deals with agreements in place that are expected to close in fourth-quarter 2015 or first-quarter 2016.

“This compares to $2.3 billion in 2015, so a nearly 60% cut. This is one of the steepest 2016 spending cuts we’ve seen across oil and gas producers.”

Canada’s oil and gas companies have eliminated at least 40,000 jobs this year, the industry’s lobby group estimates, while companies have curtailed spending. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest heavy oil producer, will rely on cash flow to cover its capital spending next year after eliminating C$3.2 billion ($2.4 billion) from its 2015 budget. Blackpearl Resources Inc., a small operator, will spend only C$15 million next year, a fraction of the C$235 million the company spent in 2014.

LNG to northeast Asia, home to the world’s biggest consumers, plunged 27% this year, outpacing Brent’s 23% slump as of Wednesday. While analyst estimates show that crude will recover in 2016, prices for the super-chilled fuel will probably extend declines by as much as 23%.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, is targeting $15.1 billion in disposals by the end of next year but has struggled to sell assets in less attractive prospects off Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron, the second-largest energy company in the U.S. by revenue, and other major oil companies have been cutting costs and capital spending plans in response to an extended downturn in prices for crude.

EIA forecasts that Brent crude oil prices will average $53/b in 2015 and $56/b in 2016. Forecast West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices average $4/b lower than the Brent price in 2015 and $5/b lower in 2016.

Differing views about who should bear the brunt of oil production cuts to lift prices forced Opec to default to its existing policy to keep on pumping last week. This has laid bare the gaping divide between Saudi Arabia and its arch rival Iran.

Many poorer OPEC members have said the group's largest producer was effectively twisting their arms, prompting the Saudi oil minister, Ali al Naimi, to say he would listen to everyone this time.

Although the collapse in oil prices has hit the budgets of Opec’s members hard, the group’s ability to act collectively has rarely looked weaker. Brent crude touched a six-year low of $41.30 a barrel on Monday.