API - “The oil and natural gas industry is a major contributor to the American economy and helps meet America’s constantly increasing energy needs. We support more than 10.3 million U.S. jobs and contribute $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy - benefits that are felt across the country,” said API Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito.

FT - The loans bring total Chinese energy finance in Africa since 2000 to $34.8bn. While this is well behind the $69bn lent in Europe and Central Asia, the $62bn in Latin America and the $60bn in Asia over the same period, the 2017 data illustrate Africa’s growing importance.

MOODY'S - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Government of Venezuela's foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings, foreign and local currency senior unsecured ratings, and foreign currency senior secured rating to C from Caa3. Concurrently, the foreign currency senior unsecured medium term note program has also been downgraded to (P)C from (P)Caa3. The outlook has been changed to stable from negative.

PLATTS - The NYMEX April natural gas futures contract settled at $2.732/MMBtu Friday, shedding 2.4 cents day on day and notching its second decline in a row.

EIA - Brent global benchmark crude oil price will increase throughout the projection period but will remain lower than prices during 2010–2014 in real dollar terms. For this reason, future investment growth in higher-cost resources is expected to be lower than in recent history. Global production of tight oil will increase by 3.3 million b/d, offshore deepwater by 2.7 million b/d, and oil sands by 1.4 million b/d between 2017 and 2040. Total production increases from these sources makes up nearly half of the long-term global liquids supply growth through 2040.

REUTERS - “The stability in oil prices is a net positive. If energy companies can demonstrate to investors that they can generate cash flow in the current oil price environment, they can go public,” said Grant Kernaghan, Citigroup’s managing director of Canadian investment banking. “The recent volatility hasn’t resulted in markets shutting down,” he added, suggesting equity markets were still open despite a 10-session period up to Feb. 8 when the S&P 500 dropped over 10 percent.

WNN - Nuclear Energy Institute president and CEO Maria Korsnick said the bill's passage in the Senate was a "welcome and timely reminder" of the bipartisan support for innovative technologies in the US Congress. "Its provisions, once enacted into law, will go a long way to ensure the United States remains at the forefront of civilian nuclear capability," she said.

U.S. BLS - Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 313,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining.

PLATTS - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Friday announced that 26 large-scale renewable energy projects were selected to help the state meet its clean energy goals, and he pushed back against the Trump administration's offshore oil and gas drilling plans.

REUTERS - Israel expects a decision to go ahead with the construction of a 2,000 kilometer (1,243 mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe to be made by early 2019, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters.