U.S. economy is thought to have shrunk in the January-March quarter and may barely grow for the first half of 2015 — thanks in part to sharp cuts in energy drilling. And despite their savings at the gas pump, consumers have slowed rather than increased their spending.

Analysts at Moody’s predict that the default rate for oil and gas companies with lower credit ratings — B2 or lower — could increase to 7.4% by March 2016 from 2.7%.

The World Bank’s private lending arm is targeting investments in natural gas companies in China, the largest growing market for the fuel.

U.S. net imports of natural gas decreased 9% in 2014, continuing an eight-year decline. As U.S. dry natural gas production has reached record highs, lower domestic prices have helped to displace natural gas imports. Net natural gas imports (imports minus exports) totaled 1,171 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 2014, the lowest level since 1987.

U.S. oil companies, still smarting from the crude price rout, are attracting a wave of new investment from unlikely sources - hedge funds and private equity firms flocking to the energy market for the first time to bet on a rebound.

Russia is developing non-dollar financing and ties with China in the face of U.S. and EU sanctions

"The Chinese market is a very interesting market for us. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we are delivering LNG to China. And not necessarily small buyers, big buyers as well," said Zanen on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur, declining to give more information.

The dollar was a contributing factor to oil’s crash between June and January as it rose 16 per cent against a basket of other currencies. However, the 60 per cent decline in crude from about $115 to $45 a barrel over the same period illustrates how crude was largely trading on its own fundamentals, as the US shale boom contributed to oversupply.

Sanctions have stopped Russia’s state-controlled oil group Rosneft expanding its trading operations, the company revealed on Tuesday, preventing it from capitalising on one of the main revenue sources tapped by western rivals during the oil price rout.

The rebound in oil prices has wide-reaching implications. For one, it certainly affects the situation in Russia and the Ukraine. As the price of oil stabilizes, the Russian government has become more comfortable with its fiscal situation, despite the fact that low oil prices and Western sanctions have sunk the country into a recession that will likely last through next year.

The cutbacks by energy companies likely contributed to a drop in the production of industrial machinery, which fell 0.9 percent, its second straight decline. The strong dollar also likely held back machinery sales, because it makes goods more expensive overseas. Companies like Caterpillar are exporting fewer trucks, bulldozers and other industrial machines.

Europe’s oil capital is a victim of the sharp drop in oil prices since last year

Naftogaz's role is the creation of an efficient gas market in Ukraine.

As Saudi Arabia pumps more and more crude, creating a glut in global supplies, US producers recently have begun to curtail oil production as prices plummeted. The cost of production for US shale producers is significantly higher than for conventional production in Saudi Arabia and in other OPEC countries, which gives those producers an advantage at a time of sagging oil prices.

EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) for April had forecast a 57,000 b/d decline during May in total crude oil production from seven U.S. regions, which together accounted for about 95% of U.S. crude oil production growth during 2011-13. This was the first time the DPR had indicated a decline in expected production since the report was first issued in October 2013. Signs of declining U.S. tight oil production amid lower crude oil prices have been a widely watched market indicator of firming oil market balances. The latest DPR, released on May 11, expects a further decline in crude oil output from the seven regions during June. Overall, EIA is now projecting U.S. oil production to average 9.2 million b/d in 2015, 40,000 b/d lower than in last month’s forecast.