Industry group Oil & Gas UK said the combination of low oil prices and the freezing of capital markets will have a marked effect on exploration and development activity in the UK over the next 12-18 months.
Brazil's PETROBRAS oil company was the first company to acquire the bid sheet for hydrocarbon exploration contracts in areas of the Uruguayan continental platform.
Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol and its South Korean counterpart, Korea National Oil Corporation, have acquired Peruvian private oil firm Petro-Tech Peruana S.A. for 900 million US dollars.
Oil and gas exploration company Desire Petroleum Plc with licences to operate in the Falkland Islands said that the environmental impact assessment on two tranches in its southern licences in the North Falkland Basin was slightly behind schedule due to a delay in a sampling analysis results.
Bolivia and Russia signed a long term agreement on investment and cooperation in the area of gas and petroleum research which is estimated could reach 3 billion US dollars, it was announced in La Paz.
Brazil needs to increase its electricity generation capacity by 50% over the next 10 years said Energy Minister Edson Lobao, who described the task as an enormous challenge.
The US Senate has passed an economic stimulus plan expected to cost some 838 billion US dollars. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 61-37 to approve the measure, with few Republicans opting to back it.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is to become Germany's new economy minister, following the surprise resignation of his predecessor Michael Glos. Mr Zu Guttenberg has been proposed by his party, the Bavarian-based Christian Social Union (CSU), and his appointment is due to be a formality. At 37-years-old, he will become the youngest ever person to fill the role.
The oil cartel OPEC is willing to cut crude output further at a meeting in March, the group's secretary-general said on Monday in London. But he also underlined he would like to see full compliance of members with existing curbs first.
Russia announced it was temporarily suspending beef imports from United States, Canada, Uruguay, Byelorussia and Ukraine because banned noxious substances had been detected in some shipments.