REUTERS - Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis wants a decision by the end of 2018 on financing majority state-owned utility CEZ’s multi-billion dollar nuclear power expansion.

REUTERS - Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake science about climate change to control the global energy market; and wind and solar energy are simply “dumb”.

NOVATEK - PAO NOVATEK announced that Yamal LNG has launched the second LNG train and dispatched the first cargo from this unit. The second LNG train commissioned six months ahead of its original schedule, and combined with the first LNG train launch in December 2017, has achieved the commissioning of the first two LNG trains in record time.

REUTERS - Front-month Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $74.50 per barrel at 0651 GMT, down 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $69.15 per barrel, down 2 cents.

ARAB NEWS - US President Donald Trump warned the world against doing business with Iran on Tuesday as he hailed the “most biting sanctions ever imposed,” triggering a mix of anger, fear and defiance in Tehran.

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 - Crude shipments came in at 36.02 million tonnes last month, or 8.48 million barrels per day, up from 8.18 million bpd a year ago, and just up on June’s 8.36 million bpd, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

REUTERS - Indian refiners’ interest in U.S. crude will be welcome news to shale producers looking for buyers outside of China, which is likely to scale back imports as the trade dispute between the administration of President Donald Trump and Beijing escalates.

REUTERS - The LNG market will require over 200 million tonnes per year of new supply through to 2030, or roughly 25-30 mtpa per year in new capacity additions to 2025

ROSNEFT - 2Q 2018 net income attributable to Rosneft shareholders jumped by 2.8 times QoQ and reached RUB 228 bln (USD 3.6 bln) on the back of operating income growth, FX impact and one-off gain from recognizing net income from the share acquisition in upstream JV with a foreign partner and recognition of fair value of previously held interest in JV.