Shale gas was supposed to be Ukraine’s ticket to greater energy independence from Russia. Chevron Corp. (CVX)’s decision to pull the plug has smashed those hopes.

Israel made another discovery off its coast. The newly discovered field, Royee, may hold up to 3.2 Tcf of natural gas according to a statement made by the Israeli partners in the field Ratio and Israel Opportunity who hold respectively 70%, and 10% stakes.

America’s oil and gas boom was enabled by a huge pile of cheap financing.

The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced new Western sanctions against Ukraine's Crimea region on Saturday as a "collective punishment" on local residents who voted in a referendum last March to join Russia.

The IEA Oil Market Report for December cut the outlook for 2015 global oil demand growth by 230 000 barrels per day (230 kb/d) to 0.9 million barrels per day (mb/d) on lower expectations for the Former Soviet Union and other oil‐exporting countries.

Turmoil gripped global foreign exchange markets on Tuesday, driving investors to the safety of the yen and the Swiss franc as Russia's rouble went into a tailspin and oil prices fell below $60 a barrel.

OPEC Gulf members and crisis-hit producer Russia held the line on resisting oil output cuts, a message that helped send oil to a fresh five-year low on Tuesday.

Crude oil prices are poised to fall below half where they were six months ago, before producers begin dealing with a global glut.

North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices fell by more than 15% in November, declining from $85/barrel (bbl) on November 3 to $72/bbl on November 28. Monthly average Brent crude oil prices have declined 29% from their 2014 high of $112/bbl in June to an average of $79/bbl in November, the lowest monthly average since September 2010. The November price decline reflects continued growth in U.S. tight oil production along with weakening outlooks for the global economy and oil demand growth. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision in late November to maintain its current crude oil production target, despite lower oil prices, put additional downward pressure on price expectations.

'Contraction unavoidable’ as oil prices fall

EIA expects U.S. crude oil production to average 9.3 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2015, up 0.7 million bbl/d from 2014

Rosneft and Essar Agreed on Key Terms of Oil and Oil Products Supplies to Essar Refineries

Crude oil prices extended their slump on the New York market with a Dec. 11 settlement of less than $60/bbl for January, and prices continued downward in early Dec. 12 trading after the International Energy Agency cut its global oil demand growth forecast for 2015.

Rosneft and Essar Agreed on Key Terms of Oil and Oil Products Supplies to Essar Refineries

U.A.E. Says OPEC Won’t Change Output Even If Price Drops to $40