BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 1,052, with oil rigs down 2 to 861, gas rigs unchanged at 189, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2. Canada Rig Count is up 4 rigs from last week to 182, with oil rigs down 3 to 119 and gas rigs up 7 to 63.

U.S. EIA - Crude oil inventories held at Cushing, Oklahoma, decreased by more than half since this time last year, recently falling to lows last reached in 2014. Logistical factors and strong demand for crude oil from both domestic refining and exports markets have contributed to the steep year-over-year decrease.

U.S. EIA - During 2017, owners and operators of U.S. nuclear power plants purchased 40 million pounds of uranium from foreign suppliers. Canada, Australia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan represented the top five countries of origin and together accounted for 84% of total U.S. uranium purchases in 2017.

U.S. EIA - From January through June of 2018, net natural gas exports from the United States averaged 0.87 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), more than double the average daily net exports during all of 2017 (0.34 Bcf/d). The United States, which became a net natural gas exporter on an annual basis in 2017 for the first time in almost 60 years, has continued to export more natural gas than it imports for five of the first six months in 2018.

PLATTS - Japan continued to press for relief from US sanctions against Iran's oil customers during a meeting in Washington this week and urged US counterparts to consider the impact on the Japanese economy.

U.S. EIA - US oil production average 10.964 million b/d in July. Production in July was up 1.73 million b/d from July 2017. U.S. natural gas production average 100,243 million cubic feet per day. Production in July was up 11,093 mcfd from July 2017.

SHANA - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) CEO explicitly said his company, the sole producer of hydrocarbons in Iran, had no plans to reduce its output.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 1,054, with oil rigs down 3 to 863, gas rigs up 3 to 189, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 2. Canada Rig Count is down 19 rigs from last week to 178, with oil rigs down 13 to 122 and gas rigs down 6 to 56.

PLATTS - A 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas is not steep enough to make shipping cargoes to China unprofitable, but it adds an obstacle for the second generation of American terminals, industry observers said.

U.S. BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent.