ASIAN STATE OIL COMPS FULL OF CASH, ON THE HUNT FOR BUYS .... Debt-laden exploration comps in Africa, Latin Am, N Am, S Am, Iraq .... India's oil comp predicting oil prices to stay present level for 10 months. $4B to hunt with .... Petro China $12B to hunt with .... Trading firms, Shell reserving oil tankers for up to a year to store oil .... Pemex wants up to 100Kb/d of US light crude for refining. Their oil production down again in '14, 10th year in row .... Europe NG prices fell 13% in '14. Now lowest since '10. Hurting Russia exports. Oil revs 45% of Russia budget, NG revs 14% .... Europe LNG imports expected to grow 18% in '15 .... 5% expansion of global LNG mart in '14 .... Kurds now hold ~80% of Kobani Syria .... Last weekend coalition air forces struck oil pipe, depots held by IS in Syria. IS also makes money from kidnappings, antiquities smuggling, commodities, extortions. (What a lovely bunch of evil to bomb. Tally ho.) .... Oil exports from Kirkuk to Turkey resumed last week. Kurds, IS still fighting over S Kirkuk .... Iraq exported record 91M bls in Dec. But $50 oil doesn't give them enough money to effectively fight IS .... Water poisoning in Mosul, still under IS control. Basic public services breaking down .... IS claims to have $2B/yr budget. Opened "development bank" in Mosul .... Female suicide bomber blew herself, others up inside Istanbul police station last week .... Rival islamist govt in Libya allied to IS. No airlines now flying to or out of Libya. (There's an opportunity for a pilot with a plane.) .... Wintershall (Germany) suspended onshore oil ops in Libya. Over $2B invested, 150 wells, at one time production over 100Kb/d .... Chevron new oil discovery deepwater Gulf of Mex after production start of another deepwater GOM site .... CNOOC NG discovery deepwater S China Sea. "Mid to large." .... Turkey launching 1st domestic seismic ship for Black Sea oil exploration in March. Ops start in 3Q. Black Sea drilling started with Turkey/Shell JV last week .... Conoco, Total, Eni, Statoil started new oil production in Norway N Sea. 3-yr rampup to 60Kboe/d by '17.