Based on financial statements from selected international oil and natural gas companies, spending on upstream investments was 12% lower in fourth-quarter 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Upstream spending on exploration and development typically accounts for the bulk of these companies' investment expenditures.

Oil markets remained volatile Mar. 24 while analysts anticipated a weekly government inventory report showing another climb in US oil and product supplies. US light, sweet crude prices edged up on Mar. 24 to remain under $48/bbl while Brent prices fell modestly to settle at above $55/bbl.

Investment bankers and analysts entrenched in the oil and gas industry say companies have so far staved off the major negative impacts of the current industry downturn better than previous downturns by acting more proactively and aggressively.

Europe's reliance on imports of natural gas is likely to rise from half to three quarters over the next two decades and Russia will continue to supply around 30 percent of EU needs, BP's chief economist said on Friday.

Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard said Monday he expects global exploration and production capital expenditures to drop between 10 to 15 percent in 2015.

TAPI faces an uncertain future with the recent oil price fall, ambiguity regarding transit via Afghanistan and an increase in the estimated project cost.

Before Donald Tusk became president of the European Council, the former Polish prime minister had already begun campaigning for a European energy union.

But now, with prices low, the risk of getting busted by Nigeria’s navy now outweighs the get-rich rewards of sabotaging pipelines, stealing oil and smuggling vast quantities of it onto international markets. Indeed, some of these thieves have reverted to plunking fish traps in the waters they helped pollute.

The United States will struggle to follow through on threats to impose deeper sanctions on the Russian energy sector, as European fears over collateral economic damage leave President Barack Obama's administration with diminished options.

The world’s biggest energy groups have sold record amounts of debt this year, taking advantage of historically low interest rates to plug cash shortfalls with borrowing, after a 50 per cent plunge in oil prices.

Could an oil and gas bounce-back loom in America’s near future? During his appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” energy magnate Boone Pickens seems to think so, forecasting prices to rise to $70 per barrel by the end of the year.

Natural gas international markets are constantly growing. Despite the ongoing crisis, Europe is increasing its dependence on imports, while emerging economies in Asia face the daunting task of fuelling their economic growth.

Private equity groups including Carlyle and Blackstone are to deploy billions of dollars in a hunt for acquisitions across the oil and gas industry, with a collapse in oil prices expected to lead to a wave of asset sales.

Lifting the longstanding ban on U.S. crude oil exports would boost the country’s economy and enhance its global leadership, a former senior Obama administration official will tell senators on Thursday, introducing a strategic dimension to the growing debate over selling American oil abroad.

From the first day of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels, the message resonated loudly: there seems to be one single front against Russia and toward the creation of the Energy Union, while a widespread criticism over the European approach to the Greek saga emerged amid tensions.