Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $64 per barrel (b) in July, almost unchanged from the average in June 2019 but $10/b lower than the price in July of last year. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average $64/b in the second half of 2019 and $65/b in 2020. The forecast of stable crude oil prices is the result of EIA’s expectations of a relatively balanced global oil market. EIA forecasts global oil inventories will increase by 0.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019 and 0.3 million b/d in 2020.

OPEC saw output slide to 29.88 million b/d last month, a fall of 210,000 b/d from June, despite output gains by six of its members

Iraq's crude oil production in July rose to 4.62 million b/d, the country's State Oil Marketing Organization said late Sunday, its highest monthly output figure since January 2017, according to official data.

Long-term cuts in coal consumption are a key part of China’s energy, environment and climate goals, but the fivefold increase in new mine approvals in the first-half of 2019 suggests China’s targets still provide ample room for shorter-term growth.

Indonesia's natural gas exports, including both pipeline and LNG, are expected to fall to a two-decade low in 2019, marking the furthest it has dropped since peaking in the late 1990s, on the back of depleting gas fields and the lack of new upstream projects.

"The best way to put downward pressure on gas prices remains more gas supply. Eastern Australian gas users have paid a high price for unnecessary, unscientific restrictions on gas development in Victoria, New South Wales and, until recently, the Northern Territory,"

BP and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced that they have agreed to form a new joint venture that will include a retail service station network and aviation fuels business across India. Building on Reliance's existing Indian fuel retailing network and an aviation fuel business, the partners expect the venture to expand rapidly to help meet the country's fast-growing demand for energy and mobility.

"Nuclear energy is the only absolutely stable (and always available) source of electricity without carbon emissions. Therefore, we hear more and more voices, including from environmentalists, who claim that nuclear energy should play a more important role in the future energy mix. Personally, I am certain of this."

"As a part of Rosatom's integrated offer, TVEL Fuel Company will provide Rooppur NPP with up-to-date efficient nuclear fuel with successful operation experience at the reference power units. Negotiating this contract, TVEL has maximally met the customer requirements in regard of fuel supply terms. I am confident that the contract will be strictly accomplished and our fuel will once again demonstrate the high level of Russian nuclear technologies”, Natalia Nikipelova, President of TVEL JSC, commented.

International benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 were up 28 cents at $60.09 a barrel by 0910 GMT, having dipped earlier in the session to their lowest since Jan. 14 at $59.07. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 futures rose 38 cents to $55.07 per barrel.

The UK's Royal Navy will work with the US to assure the security of merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of Defence said.

МИНПРОМТОРГ РОССИИ - Российские компании выразили интерес к реализации в Индонезии инфраструктурных и энергетических проектов, а также к увеличению товарооборота между странами. По итогам форума сторонами был подписан меморандум о взаимопонимании.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Ожидаемый объем дополнительных нефтегазовых доходов федерального бюджета, связанный с превышением фактически сложившейся цены на нефть над базовым уровнем, прогнозируется в августе 2019 года в размере +237,0 млрд руб.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - По состоянию на 1 августа 2019 г. объем ФНБ составил 7 867 695,5 млн. рублей (7,2% ВВП), что эквивалентно 124 137,1 млн. долл. США,

German solar generated a record 46 TWh in 2018, covering 8% of electricity demand.