ROSATOM - Cairo, Egypt - On December 11, 2017, Director General of ROSATOM Alexey Likhachev and Egypt’s Minister of Electricity And Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker signed the Notices to proceed the contracts for the construction of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant.

LETTERONE - BASF and L1 Energy, the energy investment arm of LetterOne, announce their intention to merge their oil and gas subsidiaries.

WBG - The World Bank Group will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019.

PENNENERGY - Germany's Siemens says it has signed contracts worth some 700 million euros ($824 million) to build two gas-powered electricity plants in Libya.

PLATTS - Taking into account the nominated volume for Friday, Gazprom will have exported 179.8 Bcm to what it calls the Far Abroad -- Europe and Turkey, but not the countries of the former Soviet Union -- higher than last year's then record high of 179.3 Bcm.

“This is for sure a complicated project,” Putin said at a ceremony attended by the project partners and the energy minister of Saudi Arabia. “But those who started this project took a risk, and the risk was justified, and they succeeded.”

Russia has three oil export terminals on its Arctic coast. Shipments began from Lukoil PJSC's 240,000 barrel a day Varandey terminal in 2008. It now handles about 150,000 daily barrels from nearby fields. Gazprom Neft's Prirazlomnoye field produces approximately 80,000 barrels a day, with a target capacity of 130,000. The same company's 170,000 barrel a day Arctic Gate terminal started operations this year and exports about 150,000 barrels a day from the Novoportovskoye field. Crude from all three terminals is shipped in shuttle tankers to Murmansk, from where cargoes are sent on larger vessels to Europe.

Gas from Zohr will also help ease pressure on the economy of the most populous Arab nation, which has been plagued by a shortage of foreign currency since a 2011 uprising. Zohr, which Eni discovered in August 2015, has an estimated reserve of about 850 billion cubic meters of natural gas in place.

IMF - “I had a constructive and open discussion with President Poroshenko on Ukraine’s efforts to fight corruption, which is expected by the Ukrainian society and is critical to improve transparency and accountability and create the conditions for sustainable growth."

IMF - The system’s increasing complexity has sown financial stability risks. Given the centrality of banks to the financial system, the FSAP team recommended a gradual and targeted increase in bank capital. The authorities have recognized these risks, including at the highest level, and are proactively taking important measures to address them. These include the strengthening of systemic risk oversight, further improving regulation, and moving toward functional supervision.

IMF - Overall, the system is stable. We have had a turbulent period in the last couple of years. Bad loans increased, and profits and credit growth slowed down. This period seems to have come to an end and the economy and the banking sector are getting healthier.

PENNENERGY - significant deposits already discovered in the east Mediterranean, including Israel's Leviathan field are "just the tip of the iceberg" and that "it's very likely" that more gas will be found in Cypriot waters.

УКРТРАНСГАЗ - According to Ukrtransgaz’ performance results in the first nine months of 2017, capital investments in Ukraine’s gas transmission facilities increased by 46% or UAH 486 million compared to the same period of 2016, Ukrtransgaz public and media relations department reports.

EBRD - To date, the EBRD has invested €2.3 billion in more than 130 projects in the country. The Bank combines project financing with policy engagement and most recently supported the Slovak Republic in creating the legal foundations for covered bonds with amendments to the relevant law in line with best practice recommendations by the European Banking Authority.

PENNENERGY - Danish conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk said Friday it will invest 21 billion kroner ($3.4 billion) together with British-Dutch oil producer Shell, among others, to redevelop and extend the production life cycle of Denmark's largest gas field in the North Sea.