EIA - Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $74 per barrel (b) in July, largely unchanged from the average in June. EIA expects Brent spot prices will average $72/b in 2018 and $71/b in 2019. EIA expects West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices will average about $6/b lower than Brent prices in 2018 and in 2019.

REUTERS - Brent crude oil futures were up 31 cents on the day at $73.52 a barrel by 0903 GMT, while U.S. futures rose 35 cents to $68.84 barrel.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $68.87 per barrel at 0647 GMT, down 9 cents from their last settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $73.40 per barrel, down 5 cents from their last close.

BLOOMBERG - Saudi Aramco, as the state-owned company is known, cut pricing for September shipments of all grades to Asia, its largest market. Aramco set the premium for Arab Light crude to Asia at $1.20 a barrel above the Middle East benchmark, it said Thursday in an emailed price list. The reduction of 70 cents for Arab Light was the second consecutive monthly cut for the grade and was 10 cents deeper than the median estimate of five traders in a Bloomberg survey.

REUTERS - Brent spot crude oil futures dropped 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $73.91 a barrel by 0435 GMT, adding to a 1.8 percent loss in the previous session. U.S. crude futures were down 38 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $68.38 a barrel, having dropped nearly 2 percent on Tuesday.

REUTERS - October Brent crude futures were last up 36 cents at $75.12 a barrel by 0902 GMT. The September contract expires on Tuesday. U.S. crude futures were up 78 cents at $69.47 a barrel.

REUTERS - Brent futures were down 5 cents at $74.49 a barrel by 0319 GMT, after gaining 0.8 percent on Thursday. They are heading for a near 2 percent gain this week, the first weekly increase in four. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were 5 cents lower, at $69.56, after rising nearly 0.5 percent in the previous session. The contract is heading for a 1.3 percent weekly loss, a fourth week of declines.

REUTERS - Brent crude was up 54 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $73.98 a barrel by 0318 GMT. The global benchmark settled 38 cents higher at $73.44 a barrel on Tuesday, after climbing to as high as $74. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $68.76, having settled the previous session up 63 cents, or nearly 1 percent.

PLATTS - "Our own budget is based on a price of $63/b. Today we see that prices are around $75/b, I think that prices will be at around this level -- $75, or a maximum of $80/b," Sechin said when asked about his expectations for price levels by the end of 2018.

OGJ - “Russia already has improved its relations with Iran. Given its foreign policy stance toward the US, this could grow if it believes it would undermine the US position. Russia is taking a long-term view. It sees several obstacles, which it is determined to overcome.”

IMF - Real GDP growth is expected to increase to 1.9 percent in 2018, with non-oil growth strengthening to 2.3 percent. Growth is expected to pick-up further over the medium-term as the reforms take hold and oil output increases. Risks are balanced in the near-term. The employment of Saudi nationals has increased, especially for women, but the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals rose to 12.8 percent in 2017.

IMF - On Venezuela, it is difficult to discuss because it is in a state of economic collapse. We have not engaged with them in over a decade on their economic policies.

REUTERS - Brent crude oil LCOc1 rose $1.19 a barrel to a high of $74.26 before easing to around $74.05 by 1030 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was up 70 cents at $68.96 a barrel.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were down 66 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $74.67 a barrel at 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $70.43 a barrel.

IEA - The re-emergence of Libya as a risk factor in global supply follows a series of attacks on key infrastructure that saw production plummet to around 500 kb/d in July from close to the 1 mb/d level seen for about a year.