BLOOMBERG - Gross domestic product advanced 1 percent from the prior quarter, with overseas shipments accounting for half the expansion, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney Wednesday. Economists had forecast a 0.9 percent gain. The economy expanded at an annual pace of 3.1 percent, also beating estimates for a 2.8 percent increase.

EIA - In April 2018, Bangladesh became the newest country to begin imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In the next two years, six more countries—Panama, Gibraltar, Russia, Philippines, Ghana, and Bahrain—are expected to start importing LNG, adding a combined 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of new regasification import capacity.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Глава Российской Федерации отметил, что через территорию Болгарии проходят транзитные потоки российских углеводородов в другие страны Юго-Восточной Европы. «Есть возможности развивать сотрудничество в этой важнейшей сфере – тем самым вносить ещё больший вклад в обеспечение европейской энергетической безопасности», - подчеркнул Владимир Путин.

REUTERS - Ukraine’s state energy group Naftogaz said it has asked Swiss courts to enforce a ruling that it receive $2.6 billion from Russian giant Gazprom after a long-running legal battle.

REUTERS - Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd [PETR.UL] said on Thursday it is buying a 25 percent stake in a Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, nearly a year after cancelling its own planned terminal.

BLOOMBERG - The agreement between Gazprom PJSC and the European Commission gives gas buyers more flexibility in handling imports and greater leverage to push for lower prices. That’s likely to make flows from Russia more attractive than alternatives such as expensive new links to fields at Europe’s southeast corner or tanker shipments of liquefied natural gas.

Speech by Alexey Miller on St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

Выступление Алексея Миллера на Петербургском международном экономическом форуме

FT - Gazprom’s deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said the company was “satisfied with the commitments decision” and was “always committed to co-operate in good faith in order to find a constructive, mutually acceptable solution”.

REUTERS - The head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz said on Thursday EU-mediated talks over future Russian gas transit via the country to Europe must include Gazprom and must be based on firm commitments.

NOVATEK - At the 22nd Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, in the presence of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of France Emmanuel Macron, Chairman of the Management Board of PAO NOVATEK (“NOVATEK”) Leonid Mikhelson and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TOTAL S.A. (“TOTAL”) Patrick Pouyanné signed a binding agreement on the terms to enter the Arctic LNG 2 project.

REUTERS - Washington was focused on using diplomatic means to halt Nord Stream 2, one of several Russian projects to export gas to western Europe via routes avoiding Ukraine, with which Moscow is involved in a series of disputes.

REUTERS - A consortium of western companies and Russia’s Gazprom that is due to build the controversial subsea Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany said on Tuesday it was starting preparatory work in the Greifswald bay off Germany’s Baltic coast.

GAZPROM - The parties reviewed the issues of cooperation in the energy industry, focusing on, inter alia, substantial growth in Russian gas exports to Austria. According to preliminary data, from January 1 through May 14, 2018, Gazprom delivered to Austria 4.7 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 70.4 per cent from the same period of last year.

BLOOMBERG - Europe and China will be comparable in significance as importing regions in the coming years, Cheniere Energy Inc. said, citing data from Wood Mackenzie Ltd. That follows “absolutely phenomenal” growth in China last year, Andrew Walker, vice president for strategy at the company that pioneered the transformation of the U.S. shale boom into global exports, said in Amsterdam.