FT - The 25-year deal with China National Petroleum Corporation means Cheniere has pulled ahead in the race to develop a new wave of US LNG export projects to come on stream in the 2020s.

AOG - A $3.1bn project to introduce crude processing flexibility at the ADNOC-owned Ruwais oil refinery was announced.

NOVATEK - Total and Eni signed exploration and production agreements (Agreements) with the Government of Lebanon to explore and produce hydrocarbons on the offshore blocks 4 and 9 in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. NOVATEK’s participating interest in the Agreements is 20%, Total and Eni both hold 40% stakes, with Total appointed as the Operator.

TWA - The Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects are now enjoying cash margins of more than $US30 a barrel at a $US50 price, Chevron says, and production from the $111 billion mega-projects is expected to increase this year.

EXXONMOBIL said it added 2.7 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proved oil and gas reserves in 2017, replacing 183 percent of production. ExxonMobil's proved reserves totaled 21.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels at year-end 2017. Liquids represented 57 percent of the reserves, up from 53 percent in 2016. ExxonMobil’s reserves life at current production rates is 14 years.

REUTERS - Gazprom expects its average annual investment until 2035 to be capped at 1 trillion rubles ($17.5 billion).

BP - “2017 was one of the strongest years in BP’s recent history. We delivered operationally and financially, with very strong earnings in the Downstream, Upstream production up 12%, and our finances rebalanced. And we did all this while maintaining safe and reliable operations. “We enter the second year of our five-year plan with real momentum, increasingly confident that we can continue to deliver growth across our business, improving cash flows and returns for shareholders out to 2021 and beyond. “At the same time, we are embracing the energy transition, seeking new opportunities in a changing, lower-carbon world.”

NOV - National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) reported a fourth quarter 2017 net loss of $14 million, or $0.04 per share. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $1.97 billion, an increase of seven percent compared to the third quarter and an increase of 16 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016. Operating loss for the fourth quarter was $111 million, or 5.6 percent of sales. Adjusted EBITDA (operating profit excluding depreciation, amortization, and other items) for the fourth quarter was $197 million, or 10.0 percent of sales, an increase of $30 million from the third quarter. Other items were $133 million, pre-tax, and primarily consisted of charges for inventory write-downs, facility closures and severance. Cash flow from operations for the fourth quarter was $321 million.

TOTAL - Total has signed an agreement to sell a 25% interest in the Exploration Block 11B/12B, offshore South Africa, to Qatar Petroleum. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval.

EXXONMOBIL - Despite efficiency gains, global energy demand will likely increase nearly 25 percent. Nearly all growth will be in non-OECD countries (e.g. China, India), where demand will likely increase about 40 percent, or about the same amount of energy used in the Americas today.

BP - BP and Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group (Dongming Petrochemical) announced the signing of joint venture agreements to develop a leading branded retail fuels and convenience business covering the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Henan and Hebei. Subject to regulatory approvals, the partnership with Dongming Petrochemical will start operations in 2018 and the network is expected to grow to 500 sites in 10 years. BP has a 49% equity share of the joint venture and Dongming Petrochemical the remaining 51%.

EXXONMOBIL - ExxonMobil Earns $19.7 Billion in 2017; $8.4 Billion in Fourth Quarter

CHEVRON - Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings of $3.1 billion ($1.64 per share – diluted) for fourth quarter 2017, compared with $415 million ($0.22 per share – diluted) in the 2016 fourth quarter. Included in the quarter were non-cash provisional tax benefits of $2.02 billion related to U.S. tax reform and a non-cash charge of $190 million related to a former mining asset. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings in the 2017 fourth quarter by $96 million.

BLOOMBERG - The Beijing-based explorer sees capital expenditures at 70 billion to 80 billion yuan ($11.1 billion to $12.7 billion) for 2018, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. That’s an increase of as much as 60 percent from the previous year, which came in under target. It also raised its production estimate to between 470 million and 480 million barrels of oil equivalent, poised for the the first increase in three years.

BLOOMBERG - Zohr, the largest undersea gas discovery in the Mediterranean, will pump 1.7 billion cubic feet per day before the end of 2018, el-Molla said in a televised ceremony to inaugurate the field. Egypt is talking with Rome-based Eni to increase output to reach the 2019 production target this year instead, he said.