AN - Rouhani gave the value of the draft budget at about 4,700 trillion rials for the next Iranian year which starts on March 21, 2019 He said US sanctions would affect Iranians’ lives and growth but not bring the government to its knees

REUTERS - International benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 60 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $54.42 a barrel at 0408 GMT. Prices climbed to as high as $54.66. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $45.96 a barrel after earlier climbing to as high as $46.24.

U.S. EIA - U.S. primary energy production totaled 8.0 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), a 10% increase compared with September 2017.

PLATTS - Three aggressive independent Permian Basin upstream operators released capital budgets for 2019 in the last few days that are lower than either prior expectations or actual 2018 spending by at least 12% to 15%, as corporate executives attributed reduced activity to the recent plunge in oil prices.

REUTERS - China's LNG imports totaled 5.99 million tonnes in November, up 48.5 percent from the same month last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

MEOG - Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers approved its 2019 budget, the largest in the Kingdom's history. It has planned to spend $295bn in the coming year, and estimates revenue at $260bn. Deficit is therefore estimated at $35bn, down 32% from the expected deficit for 2018, $52bn. Actual deficit in 2018 sat at $36.2bn.

IEA - While global coal demand looks set to rise for the second year in a row in 2018, it is forecast to remain stable over the next five years, as declines in Europe and North America are offset by strong growth in India and Southeast Asia,

IMF - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine. The arrangement amounts to the equivalent of SDR 2.8 billion (about US$3.9 billion, 139 percent of quota). The Board also took note of Ukraine’s decision to cancel the arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility for Ukraine that was approved on March 11, 2015.

AN - The United Arab Emirates plans to deposit $3 billion in Pakistan's central bank "in the next few days", the UAE state news agency WAM reported on Friday, while a Pakistani official said Islamabad also hopes it will allow deferred payments for oil supplies.

ADNOC - The Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have awarded Austria's OMV a 5 percent stake in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession that comprises the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr, Sarb and Mubarraz sour gas fields.

U.S. BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2018, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 4.2 percent.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is up 9 rigs from last week to 1,080, with oil rigs up 10 to 883 and gas rigs down 1 to 197. Canada Rig Count is down 43 rigs from last week to 131, with oil rigs down 37 to 58 and gas rigs down 6 to 73.

REUTERS - Brent crude LCOc1 fell 77 cents to a low of $53.58 a barrel, its weakest since September 2017, before rallying to trade around $53.75, down 10.8 percent on the week, by 1055 GMT. U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was down 20 cents at $45.68, also on course for a decline of 10.8 percent for the week.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 ноября по 14 декабря 2018 года составила $ 60,47023 за баррель, или $ 441,4 за тонну. Согласно расчетам Минфина России, экспортная пошлина на нефть в РФ с 1 января 2018 года понизится на $ 46,1 и составит $ 89 за тонну.

PLATTS - Saudi Arabia will require oil prices higher than $84/b to avoid running another deficit, analysts warned after the kingdom announced on Tuesday record government spending in its state budget for 2019.