Iran's crude oil and condensate exports rose 3% month on month in January as it continued to regain market share, widening its appeal among refiners around the globe in the process.

The average price of spot LNG imports to Japan contracted in January 2017 was $8.40/mn Btu, up from $8/mn Btu in December 2016, the ministry of economy, trade and industry (Meti) said February 9, their highest level for two years. But Japan's IEEJ says that prices have now peaked.

But Lee said that South Korean demand for LNG would keep falling in the short-term due to increased electricity output from nuclear and coal-fired power plants. The country is the world's second-biggest LNG importer after Japan.

Indonesia needs to invest $70 billion to $80 billion in gas infrastructure through 2030 to avoid a potential gas shortage, as domestic consumption growth outpaces supply, state-owned energy business Pertamina said Tuesday.

Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up 50 cents a barrel at $55.62 per barrel by 1130 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 50 cents higher at $52.84 a barrel.

"Россия не сделала ничего, чтобы заслужить снятие с нее санкций", - заявил один из авторов законопроекта, сенатор-республиканец Линдси Грэхем.

The executives predicted slower growth as “they forecast oil prices to take a long time to rebound to US$70 per barrel,” the point at which prices started to plunge two years ago, said Wu Yi, DNV’s business development manager for China, South Korea and Japan.

Maersk delivered an unsatisfactory loss of USD 1.9bn (profit of USD 925m) negatively impacted by post-tax impairments of USD 2.8bn (USD 2.6bn) primarily relating to Maersk Drilling of USD 1.4bn (USD 27m) and Maersk Supply Service of USD 1.2bn (USD 0m). In line with the latest guidance provided in November, the under lying profit came at USD 711m (USD 3.1bn). The return on invested capital (ROIC) was negative 2.7% (positive 2.9%). The free cash flow was negative USD 29m (positive USD 6.6bn including the sale of shares in Danske Bank of USD 4.9bn).

‘‘Suncor generated $2.4 billion in cash in the fourth quarter thanks to strong contributions from all of our assets and our focus on cost management,’’ said Steve Williams, president and chief executive officer. ‘‘Reliable performance throughout the year has helped us overcome challenging crude pricing and the major production outage associated with the Fort McMurray forest fires, resulting in annual cash flow significantly exceeding our annual sustaining capital and dividend commitments.’’

International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at 54.70 per barrel at 0758 GMT, down 35 cents, or 0.64 percent, from their previous close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $51.68 a barrel, down 49 cents, or 0.94 percent.