Brent were up 34 cents, or 0.4% at $82.71 a barrel, WTI rose 38 cents, or 0.5%, to $78.39 a barrel.

The global oil demand growth forecast for 2024 remains broadly unchanged from last month’s assessment at 2.2 mb/d.

Novak is taking on additional responsibility for economic development and anti-sanctions measures after former economic development minister Andrey Belousov was named new defense minister in a dramatic change of guard during the third year of full-scale war in Ukraine.

Relations between Russia and Western nations have been in the deep freeze since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Norway has been keen to keep some limited cooperation alive through the Arctic Council.

In July 2022, the European Parliament voted to include certain nuclear and gas activities within the European Union's list of officially approved "green" investments.

The OECD's growth forecast for Russia has been significantly revised upward—from 1.8% to 2.6% for this year, placing it sixth globally.

Brent inched 4 cents higher to $83.40 a barrel, WTI rose 5 cents to $79.17 a barrel.

Total Russian seaborne crude exports reached 3.9 million-4 million b/d in March and April, boosted by multi-month high shipments to India, and around the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has started developing a nuclear power plant for its planned joint lunar station with China, the RIA news agency cited Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, as saying on Wednesday.

Australia's total coking coal exports are expected to increase by 14% from 2023 levels to 171.9 million mt in 2025,