SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Tehran preferred "reasonable" price for crude oil in a bid to avoid market instability.

SHANA - The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the country’s crude oil export stood at average 2.170 million barrels per day (mb/d) over the course of the previous Iranian calendar year of 1396 which ended on March 20.

WBG - For Nigeria to tap its spatial drivers of development, policymakers may want to focus on investments that reinforce clusters and economies of scale; optimize the connectivity between rural areas and the major urban markets; and address structural and land management issues in major urban nodes and along major growth corridors to remove or alleviate barriers that undermine the growth potential.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 11 rigs from last week to 1,032, with oil rigs up 9 to 834, gas rigs up 1 to 196, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 2. Canada Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 86, with oil rigs up 4 to 37 and gas rigs down 3 to 49.

REUTERS - Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were up 31 cents at $73.44 a barrel by 0900 GMT, after falling nearly 3 percent on Tuesday to its lowest in two weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 50 cents to $67.75 per barrel.

PLATTS - On Wednesday the Central Dispatching Unit said Russia produced 44.878 million mt of liquids in April. This is equivalent to around 10.965 million b/d, using Platts conversion rate of 7.33 barrels per metric ton. This indicates Russia's compliance was 94%, at 282,000 b/d below the October 2016 level of 11.247 million b/d.

BLOOMBERG - The IMF bolstered its estimate for the oil price the kingdom needs to balance the national budget this year to $88 a barrel, 26 percent more than an assessment made in October.

PLATTS - China ended the first quarter of 2018 with robust apparent oil demand growth of 6.8% year on year, as stronger-than-expected GDP growth boosted consumption from the industrial and construction sectors and outweighed concerns over rising oil prices

REUTERS - Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were up 31 cents at $73.44 a barrel by 0900 GMT, after falling nearly 3 percent on Tuesday to its lowest in two weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 50 cents to $67.75 per barrel.

REUTERS - Saudi Arabia has projected a budget deficit of 195 billion riyals ($52 billion) in 2018, or 7.3 percent of GDP, down from 230 billion riyals last year. It plans to balance the budget by 2023.