The OPEC Reference Basket fell $4.77 to stand at $95.98/b in September, as sluggish demand and ample supply continue to weight on the oil market.

The continuing slump in global oil prices is punching holes in the budgets of oil-producing countries, including some OPEC members such as Iraq and Libya that are struggling with severe political and security problems.

With the rouble down 18 percent against the dollar this year and sanctions chipping away at economic ties with the West, ordinary Russians might be forgiven for rushing to put their money in a nice, "safe" foreign currency.

Morgan Stanley ’s deal to sell an oil trading business to Rosneft , the state-owned Russian oil group, is close to collapse amid the profound chill in relations between Russia and the US.

Russia's top oil producer Rosneft has turned to UK-certified lawyers in its fight against Ukraine-related Western sanctions which have hit the company's output and prospects for its push to tap Arctic riches.

Gazprom has said it could shelve its Vladivostok liquefied natural gas project as the Russian state-controlled energy giant focuses on supplying more gas to China by pipeline.

Crude oil prices stabilised Friday after dropping significantly this week.

The share-price boom at U.S. energy firms has gone bust, due to slumping global growth and tumbling crude prices.

This year's fall in energy prices is hastening the decline of big oil, as the seven Western majors sell-off assets, cut investment, return money to shareholders and shrink in size, leaving ever more output to small producers and state firms.

West Texas Intermediate extended its slump into a bear market amid speculation that rising global oil supplies will be more than enough to meet slowing demand. London’s Brent traded at the lowest price since December 2010.

European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has asked Ukraine and Russia to take part in another round of talks to try to solve a gas pricing row on Oct. 21 in Berlin, a Commission official said on Thursday.

Poland’s ambition to achieve energy independence from Russia is being undermined by drillers giving up on the nation’s shale wells after disappointing results.

Consumers in many Asian countries are missing out on the benefits of a global slide in oil prices and instead paying more at the pump as governments cut down on expensive energy subsidies.

French banking giant BNP Paribas SA has stopped offering letters of credit to finance commodities trades involving sanctioned Russian banks, according to people familiar with the matter—the latest fallout from tightening economic restrictions imposed by the West against Moscow.

The cost of Kashagan, already the world’s most expensive oil project, is set to rise by nearly $4bn as the companies developing it are forced to replace 200km of leaking pipelines.