Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported first-quarter earnings on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, excluding identified items, were $3.2 billion, down from $7.3 billion during first-quarter 2014.

Rising construction costs in the US and falling oil prices give LNG export projects in western Canada a window of opportunity in competition with otherwise advantaged projects to the south.

JSC Gazprom Neft has started work on the reconstruction of the catalytic cracking complex for the deep processing of fuel oil at its 21.4 million-tonne/year Omsk refinery in Western Siberia, Russia.

International producers are keeping relations with the US strong despite its plunging crude oil imports as production from domestic tight shales climbs, research by 16 University of Texas at Austin master’s degree candidates found.

ExxonMobil Corp. reported first-quarter earnings of $4.9 billion, down from $9.1 billion during first-quarter 2014 due in part by upstream losses in the US. The total, however, exceeded analyst expectations.

Chevron Australia has made a natural gas discovery with its Isosceles-1 wildcat drilled in the greater Gorgon gas project area offshore Western Australia.

Energy Transfer Partners LP and Regency Energy Partners LP, both of Dallas, have completed the merger of an ETP indirect subsidiary with Regency, with Regency surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of ETP, the companies reported.