Iran's oil minister is expressing hope that the OPEC oil cartel will begin cutting production in order to shore up plunging oil prices.

Warming ties between China and Russia are giving a big boost to Chinese imports of Russian oil, to the chagrin of OPEC nations jockeying for a slice of China’s market.

Russia is starting to see a wave of mass layoffs as a result of the plunging economy and needs to rethink where and how fast it spends its reserves, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said.

Russia to continue implementing Arctic oil and gas projects despite Western sanctions and low oil prices, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said

Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil aims at stabilizing its oil output this year, the company’s CEO Vagit Alekperov said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Lukoil aims at stabilizing output throughout Russia in 2015,” Alekperov said.

The head of Italian energy company Eni Spa urged OPEC on Wednesday to act to restore stability in oil prices, which he warned could overshoot to $200 per barrel several years down the road because of low investment now.

Oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. has said that it will lay off about 7,000 workers as it prepares for a downturn.

By 2030 More than Half of the Existing Global Oil Production Will Disappear

Oil drilling in the United States will continue to fall in the first half of this year, and could even halve, according to major oil service companies looking to past slowdowns as a guide.

Schlumberger will spend about $1.7 billion for a minority stake in a big Russian energy company at a time when that country's relations with the West are under strain and as energy prices hit multiyear lows.

Eni SpA has made a new discovery of oil and gas in the West Melehia deep exploration prospect, located in the Melehia license, in the Western Desert of Egypt, 116 square miles (300 square kilometers) west of Alexandria.

Kuwait’s government on Sunday announced plans to spend $155bn on projects over the next five years despite the current slump of oil prices

Current market conditions might turn out to be positive for the industry in the long run also for another reason. Low prices are expected to bring along helpful rationalisation measures, which will have a positive impact on the bottom line.

The growing uncertainty surrounding oil prices presents a major challenge to all price forecasts. EIA's January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released yesterday, forecasts Brent crude oil prices averaging $58/bbl in 2015 and $75/bbl in 2016, with annual average WTI prices expected to be $3/bbl to $4/bbl below Brent.

Any lingering doubt about the depth of the crisis facing the U.S. energy industry is quickly evaporating as even the biggest firms slash spending amid the steepest oil price crash since the recession, sending ripples across the vast sector.