SHANA - Donald Trump's call on other countries to stop buying crude oil from Iran and putting European companies under pressure would be a kind of self-harm for the US leading to dramatic price hikes in the oil market, given Nigeria and Libya being crisis-stricken, Venezuela's crude oil output having plunged and Saudi Arabia's domestic consumption spike in summer, Iran's OPEC Governor says.

ROSATOM - ROSATOM plans shortly to conclude contracts with new countries for construction of NPPs abroad. At the present time, ROSATOM has 67% of the world nuclear plant construction market, as head of the state-owned corporation Alexei Likhachev reported to Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

EBRD - The EBRD Board of Directors has approved an up to €500 million loan for the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a priority project of the European Union (EU) and the Energy Community. The 878 kilometre pipeline will start at the Greek/Turkish border, cross Albania and, after passing under the Adriatic Sea, will end in southern Italy. It constitutes the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor and will transport gas from the Caspian region to Europe.

BLOOMBERG - A pipeline to transport $10 billion worth of natural gas over 15 years from Israel’s Leviathan field into Jordan will be completed by the end of 2019, according to the company buying the fuel.

PLATTS - Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan oil field is achieving new production highs everymonth and has done better than 300,000 b/d, but development beyond the currentphase is likely to be about "discretionary step-ups" rather than giant steps,Shell country chair and vice president Olivier Lazare said Thursday.

FT - A French government commission has called for improvements in the safety of the country’s nuclear power plants, including their ability to withstand terrorist attack, putting further pressure on state-backed power utility EDF.

WSJ - A California utility is seeking permission to have a company build the world’s largest battery, joining a growing list of power companies investing in storing electricity. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., part of PG&E Corp. , detailed plans for four storage projects totaling nearly 570 megawatts in a Friday filing to regulators, including a 300-megawatt battery installation at a natural-gas-fired power plant owned by Vistra Energy Corp.

IMF - Germany’s economic performance was strong in 2017, underpinned by solid domestic demand and a rebound in exports in the second half of the year. Despite a slowdown in public consumption due to the stabilization of refugee-related expenditures, real GDP grew by 2.5 percent.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 46 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $74.60 a barrel at 0343 GMT (11.43 p.m. ET), compared with their last settlement. On Tuesday, WTI hit its highest since November 2014 at $75.27. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were changing hands at $78.10 per barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января – июня 2018 года составила $ 68,83 за баррель.В 2017 году средняя цена на Urals в январе – июне составила $ 50,30 за баррель.