Moody’s cut the credit ratings of Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell by one notch, and cut the credit rating of French oil giant Total by two levels. Both Chevron and Shell were downgraded to Aa2 from Aa1. Moody’s cut Total’s rating from Aa1 to Aa3. Source: OilPrice
Russia’s Rosneft earlier this week announced that it had started drilling a production well off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea. Today, two sources close to the Vietnamese unit of the Russian company told Reuters there were concerns there about China’s possible reaction to the drilling. Source: Reuters
The UK government announced on Thursday plans to facilitate timely decisions on shale gas exploration planning applications in England as part of a plan to reduce dependence on gas imports amid an ongoing decline in the UK North Sea’s conventional gas production. Source: Oil Price
A close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a stark warning to the United States about the risks of placing “America First”, accusing Washington of seeking to block a planned Russia-Germany gas pipeline to shore up its own exports. Source: Reuters
