Russian production fell by 170,000 b/d from April to May as the disruption to oil exports caused output to fall to 60,000 b/d less than the production-cut commitment. The last hurdle is restoring 750,000 b/d via the northern leg of Druzhba.

Talos Energy LLC, Houston, and Stone Energy Corp., Lafayette, La., have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction creating a Gulf of Mexico producer named Talos Energy Inc. Both companies recently have reported discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. And Talos this year reported an oil strike in shallow water off Mexico in its Zama 1 exploratory well.

Crude oil prices on the New York and London markets declined on Apr. 17 following release of a US government report projecting further oil production gains. The US Energy Information Administrations latest Drilling Productivity Report forecasts crude output from the seven major US onshore producing regions to increase 124,000 b/d month-over-month in May to average 5.193 million b/d.

Oil and gas operators in the central US show growing optimism in a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Ajay Kumar Dixit has been named chief executive officer of Cairn Oil & Gas, part of Vedanta Ltd. based in Gurgaon, India. He succeeds Sudhir Mathur, who has left the company.

Sentinel Peak Resources LLC, backed by Denver-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners, has named two more industry veterans to its executive leadership team.

According to monthly statistics from the American Petroleum
Institute, total US petroleum deliveries in May moved up 4.9% from May
2016 to average 20.1 million b/d. These were the highest May deliveries
in 10 years and the highest deliveries for any months in more than 9
years.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
is responding to a release of crude oil onto water at the west end of
the Valdez Marine Terminal near Berth 5. Crews reported a sheen on the
water at around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 21, and secured the source of the
spill.

Asdrubal Chavez, a cousin of the late former president of Venezuela, has been named acting president and chief executive officer of Citgo Petroleum Corp. a week after the arrests of his predecessor and five other company executives on charges of corruption.