Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced on Monday a joint venture with ExxonMobil called Ocean LNG, tasked with marketing LNG sourced outside the GCC country.

Nabors Industries Ltd. reported the signing of an agreement to form a joint venture in Saudi Arabia to own, manage, and operate onshore drilling rigs. The JV, which will be equally owned by Saudi Aramco and Nabors, is expected to be formed and commence operations in second-quarter 2017.

The worsening OPEC equation presents Saudi Arabia with a difficult choice after its Algiers U-turn: carry a greater burden within the group, ceding market share to other producers, or lose credibility by softening the terms of the deal. In a worst-case scenario, Saudi Arabia will have to cut production by more than 1 million barrels a day, sending the kingdom’s output to a two-year low.

«Сегодня у нас есть общее понимание, что рынок восстанавливается медленно, инвестиции в отрасль находятся на рекордно низком уровне, запасы существенно превышают средние значения за пять лет. Мы видим целесообразность принятия мер для балансировки рынка в ближайшие месяцы с целью возврата инвестиций и снижения волатильности», - отметил Александр Новак, выступая на пресс-конференции по итогам переговоров.

The economic consequences of cheap oil have been severe for Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is burning through foreign-exchange reserves, government contractors have gone unpaid, and civil servants, who make up two-thirds of the labor force, will get no bonus this year. The country’s fiscal deficit is more than 10 percent of gross domestic product, the highest ratio of any Group of 20 nation. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Saudi economic growth will slow to about 1 percent next year, the worst since 2009. A few banks predict a recession.

An oasis of calm in a hot region, the UAE is at once a critical geo-market and the ideal gateway to the most important oil and gas region in the world.

Coordinated output curbs by Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, who together pump about half the world’s oil, could boost fuel prices for consumers and revive the fortunes of a battered energy industry. While Putin’s comments are the firmest indication yet that such an agreement is possible, Russia is still pumping at record levels and has stopped short of a commitment to pull back. OPEC members also have many hurdles to overcome before implementing their first cuts in eight years.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut between 200,000 barrels a day and 700,000 barrels a day of their output to reduce a global oil glut. The 14-nation oil-producing group controls over a third of the world’s oil production, but said it also wanted non-OPEC producers to join the effort to curb output.

If Nigeria and Libya restore production, the kingdom may need to cut twice as much. U.S. shale drillers also stand ready to fill any supply gap.

Paolo Scaroni, the former chief executive of Italy’s Eni SpA, said Iran is able to pump as much as 4.1 million to 4.2 million barrels daily.

«Инструменты влияния на добычу могут быть разные, поэтому мы будем рассматривать окончательные предложения. Все будет зависеть и от макроэкономической ситуации и от планов компаний, но мы ориентируемся на сохранение объемов добычи на достигнутом уровне», – рассказал Александр Новак.

Europe sees Israel and the region as an important supplier of gas to Europe

While Tehran wants to set its production target at about 4.2 million barrels per day, Riyadh last week asked its regional rival to freeze its output at 3.6 million barrels per day in return for a production cut.

«Во втором полугодии цены будут колебаться между 40 и 50 долларов за баррель, в среднем по 2017 году мы ожидаем стоимость нефти в диапазоне 50-60 долларов», - сказал глава Минэнерго России.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that oil services company Weatherford International has agreed to pay a $140 million penalty to settle charges that it inflated earnings by using deceptive income tax accounting. Two of the company’s senior accounting executives at the time have agreed to settle charges that they were behind the scheme.