Shell will conduct its drilling in 140 ft of water about 70 miles northwest of the Alaskan village of Wainwright using the M/V Noble Discoverer drillship and Transocean Ltd.’s Polar Pioneer semisubmersible drilling unit, with each vessel providing relief-well capability for the other. The two drilling rigs and their supporting vessels will depart the Chukchi Sea at the conclusion of each exploration drilling season.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries doesn’t see oil prices consistently trading at $100 barrel again in the next decade, a pessimistic assessment that has the group considering the return of production limits to influence the market, according to a draft of the cartel’s latest strategy report.

Russia is preparing to sell his recently purchased North Sea gas fields.

It is not economically feasible to start exporting gas to Europe, an Iranian energy official dealing with the international affairs and contracts announced.

Gazprom has switched to the stage of building the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline intended to bring Russian natural gas to Europe via Turkey, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said on Friday.

The United States, wading into the international efforts to shape Greece’s economic and geopolitical orientation, is pushing the leftist government in Athens to resist Russia’s energy overtures.

U.S. Rig Count is down 11 rigs from last week to 894, with oil rigs down 11 to 668, gas rigs down 1 to 221, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 5.

Recent and projected increases in U.S. crude oil production have sparked discussion about how current limitations on crude exports affect prices, including world and domestic crude oil and petroleum product prices, and the level of domestic crude production and refining activity.

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will visit Germany on May 7th after a large German economic delegation of more than 100 businessmen arrived in Tehran in late April to spur bilateral ties.

Condensate is especially important now because it’s not covered by sanctions on Russia’s oil industry that have targeted Arctic drilling and shale projects. Production of the ultra- light crude will swell as much as 17% this year, according to estimates by Gazprombank. That makes it a key factor driving growth, said Alexander Nazarov, an analyst at the country’s third biggest lender.

A flagship Russian gas project may soon test Moscow’s newfound willingness to cede greater control of its energy assets to Beijing in exchange for much-needed Chinese financing.

The gas war between Russia and the West has been limited to the verbal so far and not seen any casualties except for the cancellation of the South Stream project.

China appointed new heads for each of its three national oil companies on Monday, in a sweeping reshuffle of the industry at the heart of its two-year anti-corruption drive.

Banks in the U.S. are cutting credit lines to energy companies and forcing firms to cough up more collateral to guard against fallout from the past year’s plunge in oil prices, a Federal Reserve survey found.

U.S. Rig Count is down 27 rigs from last week to 905, with oil rigs down 24 to 679, gas rigs down 3 to 222, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 4.