GAZPROM - Particular attention at the meeting was paid to the growing demand for gas supplied by Gazprom to Austria. In the period from January 1 through January 27, 2019, gas exports totaled an estimated 1.2 billion cubic meters, an increase of 35 per cent from the same period of last year.

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom Export believes that the record high gas sales of 200 Bcm in Europe and Turkey last year represented a "new reality" for Russian gas exports. Speaking Tuesday at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, CEO Elena Burmistrova also said she expected gas sales to remain at current levels over the next few years.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Заместитель Министра энергетики Российской Федерации Анатолий Яновский подчеркнул, что Россия является одной из крупнейших угольных держав мира, занимает третье место по экспорту угля и шестое – по объемам добычи.

U.S. DT - Over the first three quarters of 2018, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2 percent, the fastest pace for the first three quarters of a year since 2005. Initial data for the fourth quarter indicate the economy continued to perform well, although slowing global growth and the housing sector could present headwinds. Private forecasters in the Blue Chip Economic Indicators monthly survey now estimate that real GDP growth slowed to 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter, and will slow further to 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019.

IMF - Kuwait's growth is expected to strengthen. The mission has assumed an average oil price of US$57 per barrel in 2019–20, increasing to US$60 per barrel over the medium term. As capital project implementation accelerates, non-oil growth is projected to increase to about 3.5 percent in 2020. The recent OPEC decision to cut production is expected to hold oil output to 2 percent growth in 2019, which could rebound to 2.5 percent in 2020 given the spare capacity. Inflation is expected to rise in 2019–20 to about 2.5 percent as the deflationary factors in 2018 unwind.

BLOOMBERG - Investment in oil and gas production collapsed by about $350 billion, or more than 40 percent, from 2014 to 2016 -- the sharpest contraction since the 1980s -- after crude fell from over $120 a barrel to less than $30, according to the International Energy Agency. The number of new projects approved in 2017 dwindled to the lowest in 70 years, the Paris-based agency said.

PLATTS - Libya's state National Oil Corp. is targeting a $60 billion overhaul of its oil and gas sector as it strives to reach a pre-civil war output level of around 1.6 million b/d by the end of this year.

ROSATOM - First Russian-made experimental nuclear fuel assemblies based on accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) have been loaded for testing into the water loops of MIR research reactor at the State Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region.

WNN - President Emmanuel Macron announced last November that a total of 14 French power reactors of 900 MWe capacity will be shut down in order to reduce the share of nuclear in the country's electricity generation mix from the current 75% to 50% by 2035.

REUTERS - U.S. crude oil futures were at $53.13 per barrel at 0543 GMT, down 56 cents, or 1 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were at $61.03 a barrel, down 61 cents, or 1 percent.