PLATTS - "Today we submitted a petition to the Court of Appeal in Sweden," Vitrenko said as the Ukrainian company looks to find legal grounds to continue its efforts to seize Gazprom assets in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK to enforce the arbitration award.

IMF - “In this regard, I commended the President for his leadership that enabled the approval of the law, and welcomed his intention to make the court operational by the end of this year. We agreed that it is now important for parliament to quickly approve the supplementary law submitted by the President to formally establish the court, as well as the necessary amendments to restore the requirement that the HACC will adjudicate all cases under its jurisdiction, including all appeals of relevant first instance court decisions, as it was in the draft law approved in the first reading.

REUTERS - “What we’ll be looking to see is that it ensures the establishment of an independent and trustworthy anti-corruption court that meets the expectation of the Ukrainian people,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing.

SAIPEM - Saipem has been awarded a Pipeline Project in the E&C Offshore sector in the Middle East worth approximately 1.3 billion USD.

PLATTS - Japan is keen to back oil investments in the Caspian states of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as it tries to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE and to a lesser extent Iran, Japanese officials said

REUTERS - Ukraine’s state energy group Naftogaz said it has asked Swiss courts to enforce a ruling that it receive $2.6 billion from Russian giant Gazprom after a long-running legal battle.

REUTERS - The head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz said on Thursday EU-mediated talks over future Russian gas transit via the country to Europe must include Gazprom and must be based on firm commitments.

OGJ - Bahrain plans to raise $1 billion for energy investments in a fund the government calls unique among Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

GAZPROM - Total sales (net of excise tax, VAT and customs duties) increased by RUB 435,092 million, or 7 %, to RUB 6,546,143 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in sales was mainly driven by an increase in sales of refined products and crude oil.

AOG - Bahrain, recently announced that it had unearthed around 80 billion barrels of unconventional oil and up to 20 trillion cubic feet of tight gas off its west coast. The discovery could potentially transform the island state’s reserves which currently total well under 200 million barrels.