Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) and Regency Energy Partners have agreed to merge in a unit-for-unit transaction, plus a one-time cash payment to Regency unit holders, valued at $18 billion, including the assumption of net debt and other liabilities of $6.8 billion.

Currency depreciation against the dollar affects oil importers and exporters differently

Total U.S. petroleum deliveries (a measure of demand) rose last month by 5.1 percent from December 2013 to average nearly 20.0 million barrels per day. For the fourth quarter, total domestic petroleum deliveries gained 2.9 percent compared to the same period in 2013.

The US drilling rig count fell 43 units to settle at 1,633 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 23, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

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.

ExxonMobil Corp. says it started production from Arkutun-Dagi field in its Sakhalin-1 project in northeastern Russia. The field is expected to produce about 90,000 boe/d.

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.

BP could be fined up to $13.7 billion for Macondo spill