Near-curve contracts are seen edging higher on crude gains. On the spot, the Dutch TTF day-ahead was trading at Eur15.30/MWh, down 2.5 euro cent/MWh from Wednesday's close. German prices were also seen ticking down, with the NCG spot contract down 15 euro cent at Eur15.65/MWh, while the GASPOOL spot was 2.5 euro cent lower at Eur15.40/MWh.

South Korean companies announced plans to import more American shale gas and build new factories in the U.S. as the two countries' leaders prepare to hold summit talks in Washington where trade is expected to be a key issue.

The August light, sweet crude contract on NYMEX gained 37¢ on June 26 to settle at $43.38/bbl. The September contract was up 34¢ to close at $43.61/bbl. The NYMEX natural gas price for July gained nearly 10¢ to a rounded $3.03/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $2.98/MMbtu, up 12¢. The Brent crude contract for August on London’s ICE increased 29¢ to $45.83/bbl while the September contract was up 29¢ to $46.04/bbl. The July gas oil contract dropped $1.75 to $409.50/tonne. OPEC’s basket of crudes on June 26 was $43.14/bbl, down 12¢.

The NYMEX July natural gas futures contract settled 1 cent higher at $3.037/MMBtu on Tuesday, as a bullish weather outlook continued to drive up prices.

U.S. crude oil and petroleum product gross exports have more than doubled over the past six years, increasing from 2.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2010 to 5.2 million b/d in 2016. Exports of distillate, gasoline, propane, and crude oil have all increased, but at different paces and for different reasons.

Among China's LNG suppliers Australia has fared best, with imports rising 42.7 percent in the first five months to 5.39 million tonnes, almost double that of second-placed Qatar at 2.84 million tonnes.

Turkstream has been promoted by Mr Putin as a way to deepenaccess to the Turkish market, which was the second biggest for Russian natural gas last year after Germany, and to support his strategic objective to bypass Ukrainian pipelines.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt on Monday cut ties with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting extremism. Qatar denies the allegations.

Qatar and Russia have long been rivals in global gas markets. Qatar's supplies came under the spotlight in the past month after Saudi Arabia cut economic and diplomatic ties, in a move ratcheting up a wider violent and diplomatic conflict in the Middle East.

U.S. Rig Count is up 520 rigs from last year's count of 421, with oil rigs up 428, gas rigs up 93, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0. Canadian Rig Count is up 94 rigs from last year's count of 76, with oil rigs up 62, gas rigs up 33, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.