The US Department of Energy (DOE) has finalised further federal loan guarantees of USD3.7 billion for the continued construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced today during a visit to the construction site near Waynesboro, Georgia.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is down 10 rigs from last week to 1,016, with oil rigs down 9 to 824 and gas rigs down 1 to 192. Canada Rig Count is down 56 rigs from last week to 105, with oil rigs down 49 to 49 and gas rigs down 7 to 56.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday heads of the world’s top oil traders Glencore and Vitol, as well as BP’s chief executive, among others, promising favorable conditions for business.

Russian LNG is well positioned to compete with North American projects to reach new markets in Asia and the Atlantic Basin despite the challenges, a Shell executive said Wednesday at the LNG Congress in Moscow.

U.S set a new record for oil production at 12.1 million barrels a day (mb/d) in February, continuing America’s position as the world’s leading oil producer.

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Mar. 15, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased 9.6 million bbl from the previous week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.

U.S. FRB - Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent.

Electricity generation from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 807.1 million megawatthours (MWh) in 2018, slightly more than the previous peak of 807.0 million MWh in 2010, based on preliminary annual data. Although several nuclear power plants have closed since 2010, a combination of added capacity through uprates and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles allowed the remaining nuclear power plants to produce more electricity. In the near future, however, EIA expects that U.S. nuclear power output will decline.

Germany's Wintershall -- which is set to complete its merger with upstream company DEA by the end of June -- plans to expand its projects in Russia, which will remain its core production region post-merger, its CEO Mario Mehren said Thursday.

IEA - The United States will drive global oil supply growth over the next five years thanks to the remarkable strength of its shale industry, triggering a rapid transformation of world oil markets