IMF - South Africa’s potential is significant, yet growth over the past five years has not benefitted from the global recovery. The economy is globally positioned, sophisticated, and diversified, and several sectors—agribusiness, mining, manufacturing, and services—have capacity for expansion. Combined with strong institutions and a young workforce, opportunities are vast. However, several constraints have held growth back. Policy uncertainty and a regulatory environment not conducive to private investment have resulted in GDP growth rates that have not kept up with those of population growth, reducing income per capita, and hurting disproportionately the poor.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is down 3 rigs from last week to 1,059, with oil rigs up 1 to 863, gas rigs down 4 to 194 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2. Canada Rig Count is up 27 rigs from last week to 139, with oil rigs up 18 to 87 and gas rigs up 9 to 52.

REUTERS - Brent crude LCOc1 had edged up 3 cents to $75.97 a barrel by 0658 GMT, after settling down 80 cents the session before. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up 5 cents at $66.94 a barrel, having settled the last session up 25 cents. It touched a two-week high of $67.16 on Thursday.

ARAB NEWS - Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Thursday.

REUTERS - Saudi Arabia and Russia, architects of the deal among producers to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 2017, have now indicated they want output to increase.

BP - In 2017 global energy demand grew by 2.2%, above its 10-year average of 1.7%. This above-trend growth was driven by stronger economic growth in the developed world and a slight slowing in the pace of improvement in energy intensity.

REUTERS - India’s oil imports from Iran surged to about 705,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, their highest level since October 2016, according to data from shipping and industry sources, despite the threats of fresh U.S. sanctions.

REUTERS - Saudi Aramco plans to boost investments in refining and petrochemicals to secure new markets for its crude, and sees growth in chemicals as central to its downstream strategy to lessen the risk of a slowdown in oil demand.

REUTERS - Canada’s oil output is set to rise 33 percent by 2035, driven almost entirely by higher oil sands production, but without new export pipelines Canadian producers will continue to be excluded from emerging markets, an industry group said

REUTERS - EU negotiators agreed on Thursday to increase the share of renewables in the bloc’s energy production to 32 percent by 2030, a higher target than in draft rules but short of the level sought by some governments and the European Parliament.

REUTERS - OPEC and U.S. representatives have met at least twice this year, with a third high-profile meeting set for Vienna next week. Finding the optimal balance of crude supply and demand will be the hot topic.

REUTERS - The issue comes down to how quickly to build a shared infrastructure system that would include a major trunk pipeline for transporting gas from mammoth new offshore fields owned by various companies in northwest Australia.

REUTERS - Chevron Corp has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the second unit of its $34 billion Wheatstone development, marking the completion of its two megaprojects in Australia after cost-blowouts and delays.

FRB - In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1-3/4 to 2 percent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting strong labor market conditions and a sustained return to 2 percent inflation.

REUTERS - Brent crude LCOc1 was down 30 cents at $75.58 a barrel by 1000 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 15 cents lower at $66.21.