REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1 for March delivery settled down 44 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $69.02 a barrel after touching a session low of $68.40. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 fell $1.06, or 1.6 percent, to close at $64.50 a barrel.

MOODY'S - Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today changed the outlook on Russia's Ba1 long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to positive from stable. Concurrently, Moody's affirmed Russia's long-term ratings at Ba1 and its short term rating at Not Prime (NP).

REUTERS -Speaking at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, Gazprom Chairman Viktor Zubkov said the company’s share of the European gas market, where it generates the majority of its revenue, rose last year to a record high of more than 35 percent, from about 33 percent in 2016.

BLOOMBERG - Oil exports from Qatar, one of OPEC’s smaller crude producers, to Japan last year slumped by almost a quarter to its lowest level since 1990, while shipments from giant supplier Saudi Arabia grew 8.1 percent, boosting its market share in the Asian nation to a record. Over in South Korea, imports from Qatar sank 26 percent to the least in seven years.

BLOOMBERG - With crude back at $70 a barrel, and a petroleum industry that cut costs to the bone after the oil crash, the stage is now set for another boom. But the good times could hamper Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s main aim of moving the economy away from a reliance on oil. As optimism now returns to the economy, signs of real progress on that project are few.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $66.34 a barrel at 0144 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $70.49 per barrel, 3 cents below their last settlement.

API - Total petroleum deliveries in December rose to 20.7 million barrels per day. This was the strongest December monthly demand in the last decade.

BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 (table 1), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent.

WNA - France derives about 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy, due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. This share may be reduced to 50% by 2025. France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over €3 billion per year from this. The country has been very active in developing nuclear technology. Reactors and especially fuel products and services have been a significant export. About 17% of France's electricity is from recycled nuclear fuel.

WNA - Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20-25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion. It projects 17 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2040 to provide 15% of the power then, along with over 40 GWe of solar capacity. There are also plans for small reactors for deslination.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 11 rigs from last week to 947, with oil rigs up 12 to 759, gas rigs down 1 to 188, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is up 13 rigs from last week to 338, with oil rigs up 12 to 220 and gas rigs up 1 to 118.

PLATTS - The NYMEX February natural gas futures contract continued its surge Friday, as the February contract expired at $3.505/MMBtu, up 5.8 cents compared with Thursday's close.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $70.22 per barrel at 0556 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day marked its highest since December, 2014 at $71.28. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.38 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent from their previous close. WTI also touched its highest since December, 2014 in the last session at $66.66.

EIA expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average $2.88 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2018 and $2.92/MMBtu in 2019, slightly lower than the 2017 average of $2.99/MMBtu. Lower prices in 2018 and 2019 reflect EIA’s expectation of increased natural gas production and relatively flat consumption.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $69.79 a barrel at 0749 GMT, down 17 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.45 a barrel, down 2 cents from their last settlement.