Lockdowns to slow the coronavirus pandemic are pummelling gas demand in the world's biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), pushing Asia's spot prices to record lows and forcing some suppliers to start cutting output.

More global oil production curtailments will be needed to reduce the gap between supply and demand and normalize the oil market, the chief executive of Norway's Equinor said on Thursday.

Construction is now fully under way of Iran’s game-changing oil pipeline that will be able to transport huge quantities of oil and petrochemicals from its major oil fields via Guriyeh in the Shoaybiyeh-ye Gharbi Rural District of Khuzestan Province 1100 kilometres to the port of Jask in Hormozgan province on the Gulf of Oman. 

The current dramatic cuts in exploration and production will have a long-lasting impact on the global oil market, with oil prices spiking to above $68 a barrel in 2025, when there could be a supply deficit of 5 million barrels per day, Rystad Energy said this week.

French energy major Total promised to pay a steady cash dividend and said it can break even with low oil prices after the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and a collapse in fuel demand led to a 35% first-quarter profit fall.

Oil prices are getting ready to rise…dramatically.

Ampelmann, a Dutch company providing crew transfer gangways to the offshore energy industry, has said it has achieved a milestone of one million safe personnel transfers in the Middle East.

Occidental Petroleum took a $1.4 billion writedown related to an investment in a pipeline affiliate, cut capital spending and withdrew its guidance for the year after a historic collapse in oil prices.

A pair of prominent shale producers said all they need is oil around $30 a barrel to consider bringing back curtailed crude output and fracing new wells.

Shutting an oil well in 2020 is relatively easy, and can even be done with a few taps on an iPhone in some cases. Figuring out which to shut, and for how long, is the hard part.