REUTERS - “Europe completely miscalculated when they assumed that they won’t need much additional gas and if they need some it can be supplied from outside Russia,” Medvedev, who looks after exports for the world’s top gas producer and exporter, said.

FT - The 25-year deal with China National Petroleum Corporation means Cheniere has pulled ahead in the race to develop a new wave of US LNG export projects to come on stream in the 2020s.

PLATTS - Congress early Friday approved a two-year budget agreement which mandates the sale of 100 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve within a decade and authorizes sales of another $350 million of government-owned crude this fiscal year.

AOG - A $3.1bn project to introduce crude processing flexibility at the ADNOC-owned Ruwais oil refinery was announced.

REUTERS - A consortium led by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) (ONGC.NS) has become the first group to win a stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s (ADNOC) 40-year offshore oil concession, a deal set to help the UAE expand its foothold in Asia.

REUTERS - “The Ministry maintains that the Norwegian rules on reimbursement of exploration costs and interest on carry forward of losses ... do not constitute state aid under Article 61 of the EEA Agreement, and are therefore in compliance with the EEA (European Economic Area) law,” the ministry said in a letter.

NOVATEK - Total and Eni signed exploration and production agreements (Agreements) with the Government of Lebanon to explore and produce hydrocarbons on the offshore blocks 4 and 9 in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. NOVATEK’s participating interest in the Agreements is 20%, Total and Eni both hold 40% stakes, with Total appointed as the Operator.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 29 rigs from last week to 975, with oil rigs up 26 to 791, gas rigs up 3 to 184, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is down 17 rigs from last week to 325, with oil rigs down 13 to 221 and gas rigs down 4 to 104.

REUTERS - Brent futures were down 44 cents or 0.7 percent, at $64.37 a barrel by around 0700 GMT. On Thursday, Brent fell 1.1 percent to its lowest close since Dec. 20. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 62 cents, or 1 percent, at $60.53 a barrel, having settled down 1 percent in the previous session at its lowest close since Jan. 2.

МИНЭКОНОМРАЗВИТИЯ - «Для исключения ситуации, при которой электроэнергетическая отрасль может стать фактором, замедляющим экономический рост, необходимо разработать программу глубокой модернизации генерирующих мощностей», – отметил замминистра. По его мнению, данная программа позволит обновить основные фонды объектов генерации, что положительно скажется на качестве и надежности энергоснабжения потребителей, а также повысит технологическую эффективность генерирующих объектов и обеспечит заказами предприятия отечественного энергомашиностроения.