WNN - Construction of the Iter fusion reactor, being built at Cadarache in the south of France, is now 50% complete, the Iter Organisation has announced. The reactor - construction of which began in 2010 - is scheduled to achieve first plasma in 2025.

“This is for sure a complicated project,” Putin said at a ceremony attended by the project partners and the energy minister of Saudi Arabia. “But those who started this project took a risk, and the risk was justified, and they succeeded.”

Russia has three oil export terminals on its Arctic coast. Shipments began from Lukoil PJSC's 240,000 barrel a day Varandey terminal in 2008. It now handles about 150,000 daily barrels from nearby fields. Gazprom Neft's Prirazlomnoye field produces approximately 80,000 barrels a day, with a target capacity of 130,000. The same company's 170,000 barrel a day Arctic Gate terminal started operations this year and exports about 150,000 barrels a day from the Novoportovskoye field. Crude from all three terminals is shipped in shuttle tankers to Murmansk, from where cargoes are sent on larger vessels to Europe.

PLATTS - Argentina has proved oil and gas reserves of 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and probable reserves of 9 billion boe, whereas the shale oil and gas resources total 170 billion boe, of which nearly 80% is gas

УКРТРАНСГАЗ - According to Ukrtransgaz’ performance results in the first nine months of 2017, capital investments in Ukraine’s gas transmission facilities increased by 46% or UAH 486 million compared to the same period of 2016, Ukrtransgaz public and media relations department reports.

EBRD - To date, the EBRD has invested €2.3 billion in more than 130 projects in the country. The Bank combines project financing with policy engagement and most recently supported the Slovak Republic in creating the legal foundations for covered bonds with amendments to the relevant law in line with best practice recommendations by the European Banking Authority.

PENNENERGY - Danish conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk said Friday it will invest 21 billion kroner ($3.4 billion) together with British-Dutch oil producer Shell, among others, to redevelop and extend the production life cycle of Denmark's largest gas field in the North Sea.

ROSNEFT - Rosneft and Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina completed the establishment of the joint venture for the development of Tuban grass root refinery and petrochemical complex (TGRR) in Tuban in the East Java province of Indonesia.

NOVATEK - PAO NOVATEK (“NOVATEK” and/or the “Company”) announced today that its subsidiary NOVATEK Gas and Power Asia Pte Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Total Gas & Power Business Services S.A.S and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft.

PLATTS - Saudi Arabia reasserted its leadership of the oil market Thursday after brokering its desired extension of output cuts with OPEC and non-OPEC partners through to the end of 2018. The deal -- agreed after nearly nine hours of negotiations in Vienna -- kept its new ally Russia onside and prevented a sell-off that many analysts had feared.

BLOOMBERG - OPEC and its allies outside the group agreed to maintain oil production cuts until the end of 2018, extending their campaign to wrest back control of the global market from America’s shale industry.

PLATTS - Average domestic trucked LNG prices in China jumped more than 47% since November 14, according to Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange which monitors trucked LNG transactions from 50 LNG terminals and factories.

SHELL - “Our next steps as we re-shape Shell into a world-class investment aim to ensure that our company can continue to thrive, not just in the short and medium term but for many decades to come,” said van Beurden. “These steps build on the foundations of Shell’s strong operational and financial performance, and my confidence in our strategy and our ability to deliver on the promises we make.”

ADNOC - The SPC approved ADNOC’s plans for capital expenditure of over AED 400 billion, over the next five years, as it embarks on its Upstream and Downstream expansion and growth projects. The SPC also approved ADNOC’s plans to explore and appraise Abu Dhabi’s unconventional gas resources, as the company seeks to enable future value creation from its untapped gas resources. And, the SPC gave the green light to ADNOC to pursue international downstream investments that will position ADNOC as a global player in the downstream market.

GAZPROM - Pursuant to Gazprom’s draft investment program for 2018, the overall amount of investments will stand at RUB 1,278.830 billion, with RUB 798.428 billion intended for capital investments, RUB 40.983 billion for the acquisition of non-current assets, and RUB 439.419 billion for long-term financial investments.