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.

PLATTS - Iraqi southern crude oil exports in July surged to a record high of 3.543 million b/d, data from the oil ministry showed Wednesday, despite OPEC's second largest oil producer facing major protests near its key oil assets.

PLATTS - Kuwait's crude oil production currently stands at 2.8 million b/d, the country's oil minister Bakheet al-Rashidi said Wednesday, up about 90,000 b/d from June levels.

МИНЭКОНОМРАЗВИТИЯ РОССИИ - По оценке Минэкономразвития России, ВВП во 2кв18 вырос на 1,8 % г/г. Положительный вклад в динамику ВВП в апрелеиюне внесло промышленное производство, профессиональные услуги и финансовая деятельность. Ускорению экономического роста по сравнению с 1кв18 способствовало улучшение ситуации в транспортной отрасли и торговле, а также восстановление динамики строительного сектора. Рост ВВП в целом за январь–июнь оценивается на уровне 1,7 % г/г.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - По состоянию на 1 августа 2018 г. объем ФНБ составил 4 844 377,8 млн. рублей, что эквивалентно 77 163,7 млн. долл. США,

BANK OF RUSSIA - On 27 July 2018, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to keep the key rate at 7.25% per annum. Though annual inflation remains below the target, it is tending to return to 4%. The Bank of Russia forecasts that consumer prices will grow by 3.5–4% year-on-year at the end of 2018 and annual inflation will temporarily overshoot 4% in 2019 due to the planned increase of the value added tax. The annual consumer price growth rate will return to 4% in early 2020.

U.S. FRB - In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 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.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Страны БРИКС являются одними из самых крупнейших экспортеров, производителей энергоресурсов и потребителей. На долю стран БРИКС приходится почти 40% общемирового потребления энергоресурсов», - отметил замминистра.

IMF - Amid a marked growth deceleration, some of South Africa’s economic and social achievements after the end of apartheid have recently unwound. While the economy is globally positioned, sophisticated, and diversified, gaps in physical infrastructure and education create large productivity differentials across sectors. Low consumer and business confidence has dampened productivity growth. Fast growing debt has constrained policy space. As a result, per-capita growth has turned negative, the poverty rate stands at around 40 percent, unemployment has crept up to 27 percent—almost twice that level for the youth—and income inequality is one of the highest globally.

TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) today announced net income attributable to common shares for second quarter 2018 of $785 million or $0.88 per share compared to net income of $881 million or $1.01 per share for the same period in 2017.