“The US has sought to work with Europe to lessen Europe's dependence on Russian energy and, particularly, gas supplies to weaken Russian leverage to use that gas supply for political purposes and has enjoyed some success, and this has been a cooperative venture. Three administrations working in the same direction, many of the same assumptions and people.”

Goods exports decreased to $1,513.5 billion from $1,632.6 billion, the first decrease since 2009. The largest decrease—which accounted for more than two-thirds of the total decrease in goods exports—was in industrial supplies and materials. The decrease was mainly due to a decrease in petroleum and products.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States gained nearly 25 cents in the past four weeks, according to a survey released on Sunday.

The total US rig count, which on Friday stood at 476, is now at its lowest point ever in the 67-year history of the Baker Hughes numbers, according to data released by the oilfield service company.

The deal will give Calgary-based TransCanada a strategic position in the Marcellus and Utica shales of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, the most promising regions in the US for gas production growth.

U.S. Rig Count is down 4 rigs from last week to 476, with oil rigs up 1 to 387, and gas rigs down 5 to 89. Canadian Rig Count is down 29 rigs from last week to 69, with oil rigs down 16 to 12, and gas rigs down 13 to 57.

Analysts estimate that between 15 and 20 percent of 2016 U.S. oil production is hedged, and as little as 2 percent for 2017.

U.S. companies are welcome to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry, the Iranian oil minister said.

Additional regulations on methane by the administration could discourage the shale energy revolution that has helped America lead the world in reducing emissions while significantly lowering the costs of energy to consumers. The administration is catering to environmental extremists at the expense of American consumers.

U.S. Rig Count is down 9 rigs from last week to 480, with oil rigs down 6 to 386, and gas rigs down 3 to 94. Canadian Rig Count is down 31 rigs from last week to 98, with oil rigs down 22 to 28, and gas rigs down 9 to 70.

At low oil prices, customer choice rather than strategic Russian decision-making would allow Russia to retain over 30% of the roughly 490bn m³/yr European market and threaten US LNG export volumes.

U.S. monthly crude oil production in December 2015 continued to decline, as oil production reached its lowest level since November 2014. Production also declined from year-ago levels for the first time in more than four years. This continued production decline is the result of lower crude prices, which have declined more than 70% since the summer of 2014.

The United States is currently a net importer of natural gas, and gross imports represented nearly 10% of total supply in 2015, based on data through November. The United States imported 7.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas, mostly from Canada by pipeline, and exported 4.8 Bcf/d, mostly to Mexico by pipeline. For years, Alaska has exported LNG, mostly to Pacific Rim countries, but these volumes have been small. In addition to the Sabine Pass terminal that was the source of last week's LNG shipment, four other LNG export terminals are currently under construction.

Despite lower crude oil prices, EIA expects Canadian oil production to continue increasing through 2017. Canadian oil sands projects that were already under construction when prices began to fall in 2014 and that are expected to begin production in the next two years are the main driver of production growth.

U.S. Rig Count is down 12 rigs from last week to 502, with oil rigs down 13 to 400, and gas rigs up 1 to 102. Canadian Rig Count is down 31 rigs from last week to 175, with oil rigs down 26 to 83, and gas rigs down 5 to 92.