
Outside of individual's holding oil stocks, damage to the economy from the fall in oil has been pretty minimal so far. Indeed, the price cut in home heating oil and gasoline has probably outweighed the damage from lower oil prices… so far. Unfortunately, this situation may not last.

Consumer prices in the Euro zone scraped out of deflation in April after four months, official data has shown, boosting hopes of economic recovery in Europe. The inflation rate in the 19 nations that use the Euro stood at 0% in April, up from a rate of -0.1% in March. Eurostat said that low energy costs were continuing to cut living costs.

Venezuela says it will cut the working day for public sector workers to five-and-a-half hours to conserve energy, down from eight to nine hours. The initiative is part of a nationwide electricity rationing plan.

Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered the release from jail of nine executives from engineering corporations charged in the corruption investigation at state-run oil firm Petrobras. In a statement the court said that the executives had the right to defend themselves out of jail, although they will be under house arrest.

The Falkland Islands maintain strong regulatory oversight on all oil and gas operations and its offshore safety regime is based on the North Sea’s Safety Case regulatory structure, recognized as one of the highest standards in the world, said the Falklands' government in a release following concerns related to technical issues on the rig Eirik Raude, currently operating in the South Atlantic.

A senior executive at state energy firm China Sinopec Group is under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary violations. The China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) named Wang Tianpu, an oil industry veteran and president of Sinopec Group, in a statement on its website. Sinopec Group is the parent of Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has taken into account the risks presented by the Petrobras graft scandal to its expanding operations in Brazil and is confident the Brazilian state-run oil company will emerge stronger, Shell's CEO said in an interview.

Petrobras oil platforms off the north-east coast of Brazil have halted production after a leak of about 44 barrels (7000 liters) of oil was detected coming from a pipeline linking them, a local oil workers union head said over the weekend.

Even as financial commentators on CNBC are starting to come around to the idea of a bottom in oil prices, the key question for US oil producers remains one of timing. How long will the oil price slump last? Is this a relatively short term event like 2008, or a longer term slump like the one in the mid 1980’s?

Argentina's Foreign Ministry expressed concerns on Friday over the failure in the blow-out preventer, BOP, valve of the “Isobel Deep” exploration well currently being drilled to the north of the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, as reported by Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL).