By 2030 More than Half of the Existing Global Oil Production Will Disappear

Oil drilling in the United States will continue to fall in the first half of this year, and could even halve, according to major oil service companies looking to past slowdowns as a guide.

Kuwait’s government on Sunday announced plans to spend $155bn on projects over the next five years despite the current slump of oil prices

Current market conditions might turn out to be positive for the industry in the long run also for another reason. Low prices are expected to bring along helpful rationalisation measures, which will have a positive impact on the bottom line.

The growing uncertainty surrounding oil prices presents a major challenge to all price forecasts. EIA's January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released yesterday, forecasts Brent crude oil prices averaging $58/bbl in 2015 and $75/bbl in 2016, with annual average WTI prices expected to be $3/bbl to $4/bbl below Brent.

Any lingering doubt about the depth of the crisis facing the U.S. energy industry is quickly evaporating as even the biggest firms slash spending amid the steepest oil price crash since the recession, sending ripples across the vast sector.

Global equity markets rebounded, with U.S. stocks capping five straight sessions of losses. European shares rose on growing expectations of economic stimulus from the European Central Bank.

In 2015, world oil demand is anticipated to rise by 1.15 mb/d, following an upward revision of 30 tb/d due to expectations of higher oil requirements in OECD America and Other Asia.

December was the sixth consecutive month in which monthly average Brent prices decreased, falling $17/barrel (bbl) from November to a monthly average of $62/bbl, the lowest since May 2009. The December price decline reflects continued growth in U.S. tight oil production, strong global supply, and weakening outlooks for the global economy and oil demand growth.

The World Bank on Tuesday lowered its global growth forecast for 2015 and next year due to disappointing economic prospects in the euro zone, Japan and some major emerging economies that offset the benefit of lower oil prices.

Robust recovery in the United States, a moribund euro zone and slowing Chinese growth reflect global splits which plunging oil prices are likely to widen.

The halving of oil prices over the past six months has caught pretty much every economist by surprise and prompted a rush to explain the reasons behind this astounding drop and the consequences for the global economy .

Energy security is a topic of growing concern to many EU countries and the Western Balkans, here defined as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, could play a role in improving that security through possible investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and new gas pipelines.

The falling oil price is a huge shot in the arm. Nonetheless, it is clear that the ECB will have to do something. There is no growth and the debt burden is too high. The world will be flying on one engine, the U.S., for quite some time.

Plunging oil prices are giving a bump to consumer and business spending around the world -- just not enough to increase global growth forecasts.