
With all the conspiracy theories surrounding OPEC's November decision not cut production, is it really not just a case of simple economics? The U.S. shale boom has seen huge hype but the numbers speak for themselves and such overflowing optimism may have been unwarranted. When discussing harsh truths in energy, no sector is in greater need of a reality check than renewable energy.

The price of a barrel of the North Sea benchmark dropped on Monday by 5.5% to 47.36 dollars, its lowest level since early 2009. US crude oil was also at its lowest level since that time, down by 5% to 45.90 a barrel.

The world's oil and gas exploration companies are expected to cut capital expenditures 17% this year as a deep slump in crude oil prices takes a toll on budgets, according to a survey by Cowen and Company released on Wednesday.

As we ring in the New Year, let's take stock of where we are at with the oil markets. 2014 proved to be a momentous one for the oil markets, having seen prices cut in half in just six months.

President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he had secured a total of more than 20 billion dollars in investment from major creditor China for economic, social, and oil-related projects.

Low oil prices today may be setting the world up for an oil shortage as early as 2016. Today we have just 2% more crude oil supply than demand and the price of gasoline is under $2.00/gallon in Texas. If oil supply falls too far, we could see gasoline prices doubling within 18 months. For a commodity as critical to our standard of living as oil is, it only takes a small shortage to drive up the price.

The US oil price fell below the symbolic threshold of $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009, before finishing the day at $50.05. The price of Brent crude also fell on Monday, dipping 6% to $53 a barrel.

The British company Rockhopper Exploration, with interests in the Falkland Islands, has been awarded a licence to explore, together with Italy's Eni, a field for possible oil and gas exploitation in the central part of the Croatian Adriatic.

President Energy slumped by as much as a third on Monday following an update on testing of the Silurian Santa Rosa and Devonian Icla reservoirs in the Lapacho well in Paraguay's Chaco. A test of Santa Rosa was cut short, although management reckons that it can be commercialized, and a test of Icla recovered only gas and no oil.

Russia’s gas giant Gazprom said in a release on Monday it had signed a deal with Eni, Wintershall and EDF on the purchase of 50% of shares in South Stream Transport BV. Thus, Gazprom will be a 100% owner of the company.