Following the path started in 2015, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories have continued to build in early 2016 and are nearing record highs.

U.S. Rig Count is down 27 rigs from last week to 514, with oil rigs down 26 to 413, and gas rigs down 1 to 101. Canadian Rig Count is down 16 rigs from last week to 206, with oil rigs down 9 to 109, and gas rigs down 7 to 97.

Such a strategy may be economically rational for Gazprom: already-low prices in the European gas market mean it could relatively easily push prices to a level at which it would be unprofitable to ship LNG from the US — and in doing so defend its market share in a region which accounts for the bulk of its profits.

Real gross domestic product -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.

The oil and gas shock has been big enough to affect negatively the performance of the whole economy in the short run, even if it promises to have a positive impact in the long term.

Total petroleum deliveries, a measure of consumer demand, in December rose by 1.1 percent from December 2014 to average nearly 19.7 million barrels per day, according to API’s Monthly Statistical Report for December 2015. These were the highest December deliveries in five years.

Three leading US shale oil producers have announced steep cuts in their planned capital spending, as they set their budgets to respond to the collapse in crude prices.

During the next eight days, independent U.S. oil explorers are expected to report 2015 losses totaling almost $14 billion, the result of the steepest price collapse in a generation.

The slowdown has been rapid. As recently as a year ago, US manufacturing production was growing at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent, says Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers. By November that had slowed to 0.9 per cent and this year Mr Moutray expects production to grow just 1.4 per cent.

Crude oil production in February from seven major US shale plays is expected to fall 116,000 b/d to 4.83 million b/d. Production from the Eagle Ford is seen dropping 72,000 b/d during the month to 1.15 million b/d, followed by a 24,000-b/d loss in the Bakken to 1.1 million b/d and 23,000-b/d loss in the Niobrara to 371,000 b/d.

Having a robust regulatory approval system is critical for governments—and the energy sector–to ensure that energy products get to world markets safely and in environmentally friendly, socially accepted ways

U.S. Rig Count is down 34 rigs from last week to 664, with oil rigs down 20 to 516, and gas rigs down 14 to 148.

While tens of thousands of jobs have already been cut in 2015, more redundancies are expected this year as companies narrow their focus.

With no growth and no profits, the US exploration and production industry is facing a gruelling year. The gap between strong and weak companies is likely to widen. Those that have lower-cost production and healthier balance sheets should be able to stay in business. Those that have good assets but big debts may have to sell their most valuable properties. Those that have neither attractive assets nor strong finances will be heading for bankruptcy.

PRNEWSWIRE - Charles and David Koch of Kansas are the wealthiest individuals in America's oil and gas sector, with a combined net worth of US$83 billion, according to a Wealth-X Top 10 list that includes billionaires from Texas, New York and Oklahoma.