2018

PLATTS - Russian gas giant Gazprom can set a new historical gas export record ofnearly 200 Bcm in 2018, up nearly 3% on the year, as demand in Europecontinues rising amid declining production in the region, the company'sCEO Alexei Miller said Friday.

REUTERS - Germany has been assured by the United States that any sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect the building of a gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe, a spokeswoman for the German economy ministry said on Friday.

IMF - Our latest forecast in April therefore projected the global economy to grow by 3.9 percent in 2018 and 2019 – 0.2 percent higher than our forecast last October. This acceleration is driven by both advanced countries and emerging and developing economies.

REUTERS - Japan has protested to China for allowing a gas drilling vessel to operate in disputed waters in the East China Sea, the government said

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is down 5 rigs from last week to 1,047, with oil rigs down 4 to 858, gas rigs down 1 to 187 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2. Canada Rig Count is up 12 rigs from last week to 172, with oil rigs up 14 to 117 and gas rigs down 2 to 55.

REUTERS - U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was 20 cents lower at $73.25 a barrel at 0730 GMT. On Thursday, the contract hit its highest since November 2014 at $74.03 per barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged at $77.85 a barrel.

PLATTS - "I think you're going to see a settling-down of the market -- people feeling comfortable that Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, we've got substantial production," Perry said, while acknowledging pipeline constraints in Texas that are holding back Permian Basin oil exports.

WSJ - Iran exports more than 2 million barrels a day of oil. President Donald Trump in May withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions that seek to force companies not to buy any Iranian oil.

BLOOMBERG - QATAR Petroleum, the world’s biggest seller of liquefied natural gas, is looking to get even larger, investing US$20 billion in America’s oil and gas fields, at a time when rival U.S. exporters are expanding.

FT - Anadarko has estimated the reserves in its Area 1 acreage off the coast of Mozambique at about 75tn cubic feet, implying a resource life of about 120 years at the initial production rate of 12.88m tonnes of LNG per year, but the consortium intends to expand the plant every five years to add more capacity.