Crude oil production in January from seven major US shale plays is expected to drop 116,000 b/d to 4.86 million b/d, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s latest Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The agency last month projected a 118,000-b/d decline for December. The DPR focuses on the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara, Permian, and Utica, which altogether accounted for 95% of US oil production increases and all US natural gas production increases during 2011-13.

The US drilling rig count dropped 7 units to 737 during the week ended Dec. 4, marking its lowest point since Oct. 15, 1999.

The January contract for light, sweet crude settled below $40/bbl on the New York market Dec. 4 after members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries acknowledged they would accommodate current production, which is more than 1 million b/d over the quota.

The selloff marks a sharp shift in Wall Street sentiment from earlier in the year, when investors piled into energy-company debt and firms sold new bonds as the price of oil appeared to stage a comeback.

Although the collapse in oil prices has hit the budgets of Opec’s members hard, the group’s ability to act collectively has rarely looked weaker. Brent crude touched a six-year low of $41.30 a barrel on Monday.

Many poorer OPEC members have said the group's largest producer was effectively twisting their arms, prompting the Saudi oil minister, Ali al Naimi, to say he would listen to everyone this time.

U.S. oilfield equipment maker National Oilwell Varco Inc will cut its Norwegian workforce by another 900 people after low oil prices resulted in fewer orders, the company said on Monday.

"The market is oversupplied and production capacity will continue to grow because a lot of projects were sanctioned in 2013 and 2014," Pouyanne told reporters on the sidelines of the International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha.

EIA forecasts that Brent crude oil prices will average $53/b in 2015 and $56/b in 2016. Forecast West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices average $4/b lower than the Brent price in 2015 and $5/b lower in 2016.

Gazprom’s activities in the Caspian Sea region and its negotiations with China show that Russia is increasingly looking for opportunities to strengthen its position in other regional energy markets, even though this is connected with high political and economic costs.

Nord Stream 2 project will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2019, in line with previous declarations that forecasted the new pipeline to be commissioned in 2019.

Differing views about who should bear the brunt of oil production cuts to lift prices forced Opec to default to its existing policy to keep on pumping last week. This has laid bare the gaping divide between Saudi Arabia and its arch rival Iran.

9 декабря в Ухте стартовал автопробег на природном газе "Сила добра" по маршруту Ухта — Санкт-Петербург.

Canada’s oil and gas companies have eliminated at least 40,000 jobs this year, the industry’s lobby group estimates, while companies have curtailed spending. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest heavy oil producer, will rely on cash flow to cover its capital spending next year after eliminating C$3.2 billion ($2.4 billion) from its 2015 budget. Blackpearl Resources Inc., a small operator, will spend only C$15 million next year, a fraction of the C$235 million the company spent in 2014.

Non-OPEC crude oil and other liquids production grows by 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015, and then declines by 0.4 million b/d in 2016, which would be the first annual decline in non-OPEC production since 2008.

Qatar's LNG is expensive compared to Russian gas (although Russian gas is also not cheap). New LNG terminals will not be easy to build in the short term; it is a very expensive process. It also possible to increase the efficiency of processing and transmission of gas through the introduction of modern technology, however, it will not completely solve the problem.

«Сегодня на арктическом шельфе РФ добыча нефти ведется только на Приразломном месторождении в Печорском море. Накопленная добыча нефти на Приразломном месторождении на ноябрь 2015 г. составила 922,5 тыс. т», – сообщил Кирилл Молодцов.

Australia’s $170-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) construction boom is winding down, and the hunt for new work is picking up.

LNG to northeast Asia, home to the world’s biggest consumers, plunged 27% this year, outpacing Brent’s 23% slump as of Wednesday. While analyst estimates show that crude will recover in 2016, prices for the super-chilled fuel will probably extend declines by as much as 23%.

Chevron, the second-largest energy company in the U.S. by revenue, and other major oil companies have been cutting costs and capital spending plans in response to an extended downturn in prices for crude.