BLOOMBERG - “The question is how much gas Russia ends up delivering into the European markets -- that will be a key determinant,” said Murray Douglas, research director for European gas at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “Russia expressed publicly it wants to keep deliveries. That could generate a real collapse in prices in the summer months, when we will see a big LNG supply.”

PENINSULA - Currently, Qatar is leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports with 12 consecutive years under its belt, while the US is looking to raise its LNG exports with its abundant shale gas supplies.

REUTERS - A final investment decision (FID) could be taken on more than 60 million tonnes per annum of LNG capacity this year, well above the previous record of about 45 million tonnes in 2005 and triple last year’s 21 million tonnes, Wood Mackenzie’s research director for global gas and LNG, Giles Farrer, said.

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom expects its total natural gas exports to Europe and Turkey to reach 201 Bcm in 2018, CEO Alexei Miller said Friday, a third year of record export volumes.

WNN - Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous nation, has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The World Bank is forecasting GDP growth of about 5% this year and next, and 5.5% in 2020. Current projections indicate that, to match these trends and consumer demand, we will need to double electricity output by 2030.

PLATTS - Brazilian state-led oil company Petrobras registered a 1.4% month-on-month slide in domestic crude oil output in November as ongoing maintenance work at offshore floating production units offset fresh flows from new wells.

PLATTS - The US has long opposed the Nord Stream expansion, arguing that Europe should not be so dependent on Moscow for energy. The government has recently been touting US LNG exports as an alternative to Russian gas, in addition to supporting the Southern Gas Corridor from the Caspian region to the EU.

GAZPROM - Pursuant to the investment program for 2019, the overall amount of investments will stand at RUB 1,325.724 billion, with RUB 963.019 billion intended for capital investments, RUB 151.505 billion for the acquisition of non-current assets, and RUB 211.2 billion for long-term financial investments.

PLATTS - The downward trend in output from Mexico's state oil company Pemex continued in November as oil and gas production fell 2.7% and 2.3% respectively, from the previous month, company data showed Wednesday.

REUTERS - “I think that during the first half, due to joint efforts, which were confirmed by the OPEC and non-OPEC countries this December, the situation will be more stable, more balanced,” Novak said in an interview on Rossiya-24 TV.

U.S. EIA - U.S. primary energy production totaled 8.0 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), a 10% increase compared with September 2017.

PLATTS - Three aggressive independent Permian Basin upstream operators released capital budgets for 2019 in the last few days that are lower than either prior expectations or actual 2018 spending by at least 12% to 15%, as corporate executives attributed reduced activity to the recent plunge in oil prices.

REUTERS - China's LNG imports totaled 5.99 million tonnes in November, up 48.5 percent from the same month last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

ADNOC - The Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have awarded Austria's OMV a 5 percent stake in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession that comprises the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr, Sarb and Mubarraz sour gas fields.

API - The U.S. produced a record 11.6 million barrels of oil per day (mb/d) and a record 4.8 mb/d of NGLs in November. Crude exports also hit a record high at 2.4 million barrels per day last month, and U.S. petroleum net imports fell at their lowest monthly level in more than 50 years at 2.2 million barrels per day.