Between January-July, flows totaled 66.52 Bcm, 16% higher than the cumulative total for the same period last year and 13% up on the previous record high for the January-July period of 58.73 Bcm from 2014.

However, in conjunction with both lower oil prices and international sanctions, Russia has recently experienced five consecutive quarters of decline in GDP, representing that country's deepest economic downturn since 2008-09.

Iran is introducing a new contract framework for its energy deals to sweeten them for foreign financiers.

"Not only willing to cooperate with Zarubezhneft Company as investor in the fields, we are also calling for fully benefiting from their state of art technology,"

Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled up $1.32, or 3.3%, at $40.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the largest gain since July 12 and brought the U.S. benchmark within 16 cents of exiting bear-market territory. Brent, the global benchmark, gained $1.30, or 3.1%, to $43.10 a barrel, snapping a five-session losing streak.

Ramezani told the Panel of Prospect of Gas Industry in Next Half a Century that the deal is expect to prepare the condition for export and shipment of gas to West Europe.

"Сумма сделки около 60 миллионов долларов", - сказал источник. "Зарубежнефть" перевела основную часть средств, остаток будет переведен в ближайшее время в соответствии с договоренностями", - уточнил он.

"Incahuasi is one of the largest gas and condensate fields brought on stream in Bolivia. Incahuasi’s production will contribute to Bolivia’s gas exports to Argentina and Brazil as well as domestic consumption”

Energy giant is set to begin selling its offshore-China assets this month, the latest in a series of divestments in Asia. The company is looking to raise up to $10 billion globally from asset sales, a big chunk of which will come from its Asian upstream operations, as part of a broader effort to cut costs and adapt to an environment of lower oil prices.

Debt levels are currently rising at an annual rate of 11.5 percent, more than double the 5.1 percent witnessed between 2009 and 2014.

Latin America should strengthen regional trade and financial linkages to boost growth and further the social achievements of the past 15 years.

The worldwide rig count for July 2016 was 1,481, up 74 from the 1,407 counted in June 2016, and down 686 from the 2,167 counted in July 2015.

U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 464, with oil rigs up 7 to 381, gas rigs down 5 to 81, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 2. Canadian Rig Count is up 3 rigs from last week to 122, with oil rigs unchanged at 60, gas rigs up 2 to 60, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 2.

Employment in oil and natural gas production reached a high of 538,000 jobs in October 2014. Since then, oil and natural gas production employment declined 26%, a loss of more than 142,000 jobs through May 2016, based on the latest jobs data available. The total decrease in production jobs is nearly three times the 51,000 jobs lost over a 13-month period during the 2008–09 recession.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $42.01 per barrel at 0022 GMT, up 21 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. Brent crude futures were trading at $44.40 per barrel, up 13 cents, or 0.29 percent.

"Growth in China's fuel exports will be strong throughout the third quarter," a Beijing-based trader said. "Refiners are starting to tighten crude runs as well as increase exports to balance the surplus in the domestic market."

In common with other oil companies, the European trio are looking to divest non-core assets to help shore up their balance sheets and defend dividends at a time of mounting pressure from the prolonged weakness in oil prices.

Greenspan sees oil trading in a range of about $40 to $50 a barrel over the next couple of years. A $50 price would be high enough to encourage new shale oil production in the U.S., he said. Oil futures traded near $42 a barrel in New York on Thursday, down from a 2016 closing high of $51.23 on June 8.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and other major oil exporters met in Doha in April in a bid to stabilize global markets by putting caps on output. The effort collapsed as Saudi Arabia demanded that rival Iran join the pact. At the time, Iran had ruled out any limits as it ramped up production after the lifting of international sanctions.

The deficit rose to $44.5 billion in June, 8.7 percent higher than a revised May deficit of $41 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It was the biggest gap between what America sells abroad and what the country imports since a $44.6 billion deficit last August.