Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, has raised June oil prices to Asia by the most in 14 months, in a hopeful sign that demand from the region is on the up.

U.S. Rig Count is down 5 rigs from last week to 415, with oil rigs down 4 to 328, gas rigs down 1 to 86, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is down 1 rig from last week to 36, with oil rigs up 1 to 11, gas rigs down 2 to 24, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.

During the period, the unaudited oil and gas sales revenue of the Company reached approximately RMB24.64 billion, representing a decrease of 30.7% YoY, mainly due to the sharp decrease in international oil prices. The Company’s average realized oil price decreased 39.1% YoY to US$32.54 per barrel while the average realized gas price was US$5.69 per thousand cubic feet, down 14.8% YoY.

Operating losses were $500 million ($0.33 per common share), driven by low commodity prices, wider bitumen differentials to Western Canadian Select (WCS), weak benchmark refining margins and a Refining and Marketing first-in, first-out (FIFO) loss of $192 million. Net earnings were $257 million ($0.17 per common share).

The sharp decline in oil prices since the fourth quarter of 2014 has had a significant effect on drilling in the United States. The number of active onshore drilling rigs in the Lower 48 states fell 78% (from 1,876 to 412) between the weeks ending on October 31, 2014, and April 15, 2016, according to data from BakerHughes. The decline in active rigs and well completions is projected to result in month-over-month onshore oil production declines of 120,000 b/d through September 2016.

A high debt-to-equity ratio can present challenges in the face of falling revenue, which most U.S. oil producers experienced in 2015 because of lower oil prices. A company agrees to the terms of a bank loan or bond issuance to fund projects with the expectation that its activities will generate sufficient revenue to service the debt and eventually repay it. Debt on the balance sheet implies future cash outflows. The need to service large amounts of debt as revenues declined made companies with high debt-to-equity ratios more vulnerable to losses than companies with less leverage in their capital structures.

During this year’s first 3 months, 39 announced oil and gas deals took place accounting for a total $28 billion vs. 39 deals worth $34.4 billion in first-quarter 2015. Total deal value was down 19%.

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC, which is seeking to boost exports to its biggest market by revenue to a record this year, has said U.S. LNG can’t compete on price in Europe and American supplies to the region will be limited. Russia meets a third of European gas supply, with Germany being the biggest market.

Gas trade relations between Gazprom and private importers are one of the more important topics regarding the Turkish gas market.

The Kandym Gas Processing Complex will include construction of a gas treatment plant capable of processing 8.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, as well as a natural gas gathering system, which, at its peak, will comprise 114 producing wells, 11 well pads and 4 gathering stations. 370 km of gas pipelines will be installed and 160 km of motorways will be built. Around 7,000 people will be involved in the construction of the complex and infrastructure facilities.

Проект «Ямал СПГ» действительно относится к числу приоритетных, где мы соединяем три источника финансирования: это государственное финансирование (оно составляет только относительно небольшую часть, 10–15%), это финансирование по линии российских банков и финансирование от внешних инвесторов из разных источников. Инвестиции в «Ямал СПГ» составляют огромную сумму, это несколько десятков миллиардов долларов. Это огромный, очень сложный проект на Севере, но он даст колоссальный мультипликативный эффект.

South America’s two largest oil producing nations face bigger threats from political turmoil than depressed crude prices, but reforms in their national oil companies (NOC) and energy ministries may be essential for their governments to survive.

Общий объем недоинвестирования в отрасль за 2 года приближается к $400 млрд – это те факторы, которые оказывают влияние на рынок. При этом продолжается рост спроса на нефть – примерно на 1,2 млн баррелей в сутки, по оценкам экспертов. Цена около $40 за баррель сегодня отражает реальную рыночную картину, является приемлемой и для производителей, и для потребителей нефти в условиях существующего профицита предложения.

The Russian camp was locked in negotiations with the Saudis, Qataris and Venezuelans — a core group that had first backed the freeze in February.

Thousands of workers in six oil and petrochemical companies went on strike Sunday to protest proposed government cutbacks.