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Guyana, Russia and U.S. lead the way in oil and gas discoveries==

The small South American nation Guyana led the way in 2018 for new oil and gas discoveries followed by Russia and the United States as energy exploration rose for the first time in three years.

But the booming Permian Basin in West Texas still drove new oil and gas production this year, according to reports Monday from the research firms Rystad and Wood Mackenzie. And that growth will continue into 2019 and likely beyond.

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Elsewhere, the Russian oil company Novatek discovered nearly 1 billion barrels in the shallow waters of Ob Bay in northern Russia. Closer to home, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell said they found a combined 750 million barrels of oil equivalent in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Other regions of the world set to see new growth include natural gas fields in Qatar, offshore oil in Brazil, as well as a slew of other discoveries in varying parts of the globe like Cyprus, South Africa, Australia and Norway, Wood Mackenzie and Rystad said.

https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Guyana-Russia-and-U-S-lead-the-way-in-oil-and-13471588.php

Xi calls for China to 'stay the course': No one is in a position to dictate reform to us

That idea of progress contrasts with other countries' increasingly vocal demands for less state control and could have significant consequences for whether the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China by the end of its 90-day tariff ceasefire.

"No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done," Xi said in Mandarin Chinese during the speech, according to an official translation broadcast through state media. He called for China to "stay the course" on its current path.

"What to reform and how to go about the reform must be consistent with the overarching goal of improving and developing the system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance," the Chinese leader added. "We will resolutely reform what should and can be reformed, and make no change where there should and cannot be any reform."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/18/amid-trade-war-xi-jinping-says-china-must-stay-the-course-on-reform.html