The oil producers’ cartel will discuss cutting back output at its meeting this Wednesday in Vienna. Iraq’s output continues increasing, Iran could export more barrels as a result of last week’s nuclear deal and non-Opec production has been strong with US output soaring – all bullish supply factors that could put downward pressure on prices which Opec wants to support. [Wall Street Journal]

Thailand is emerging as a new competitor for LNG in the hungry Asia Pacific market, as the country’s domestic natural gas production is expected to soon decline while demand for power generation increases. A nascent shale gas prospect in the northeast could hold up to 5 trillion cubic feet, but the reserves are unproven and development would likely be a longer-term proposition. [Upstream]

The NRDC is working to establish an emissions control area in Hong Kong, which is located at the mouth of the Pearl River where shipping is a major air pollution contributor. Similar action has been effective in the US and as China gets increasingly serious about mitigating air pollution, some form of emissions control appears likely. [NRDC]