Finance

OIL INVESTMENT THREAT
PLATTS - ExxonMobil remains more bullish on the future for oil, predicting that demand for oil will likely continue to grow by 19% to 117 million b/d to 2040.

ROSNEFT: +27%
ROSNEFT - Net income attributable to Rosneft shareholders reached RUB 100 bln in 4Q 2017, more than doubling QoQ. In 12M 2017 it amounted to RUB 222 bln, exceeding the 2016 level by 27.6%.

BRAZIL REGAIN MARKET
PLATTS - "The increase in competition induced new practices in the market that resulted in imports returning to normal," Petrobras' Jorge Celestino said during a presentation of the company's 2017 financial results.

NIGERIA NEED CHANGES
PLATTS - The objective of this program is to increase its domestic refinery utilization rates to 90% from current levels of 10-20%, Kragha said speaking to Platts in Cape Town on the sidelines of the African Refiner Association conference.

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION UP 1.1%
FRB - Industrial production rose 1.1 percent in February following a decline of 0.3 percent in January. Manufacturing production increased 1.2 percent in February, its largest gain since October. Mining output jumped 4.3 percent, mostly reflecting strong gains in oil and gas extraction.

U.S. - CHINA TRADE WAR
REUTERS - China’s metals industry issued the country’s most explicit threat yet in the row, urging on Friday for the government to retaliate by targeting U.S. coal - a sector that is central to Trump’s political base and his election pledge to restore American industries and blue-collar jobs.

U.S. OIL & GAS: 10.3 MLN JOBS
API - “The oil and natural gas industry is a major contributor to the American economy and helps meet America’s constantly increasing energy needs. We support more than 10.3 million U.S. jobs and contribute $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy - benefits that are felt across the country,” said API Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito.

VENEZUELA'S RATINGS DOWN
MOODY'S - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Government of Venezuela's foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings, foreign and local currency senior unsecured ratings, and foreign currency senior secured rating to C from Caa3. Concurrently, the foreign currency senior unsecured medium term note program has also been downgraded to (P)C from (P)Caa3. The outlook has been changed to stable from negative.

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 4.1%
U.S. BLS - Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 313,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining.

OPEC OIL PRICE: $66.85
OPEC - The OPEC Reference Basket increased for the fifth-straight month in January, gaining a sharp 7.7% to average $66.85/b, the highest monthly average since November 2014. Oil prices were supported by continuing efforts by OPEC and participating non-OPEC producers to balance the market and ten consecutive weeks of crude inventory draws amid healthy economic growth and improving oil demand.