2018

U.S. EIA - Collectively, these companies added a net 8.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to their proved reserves during 2017, which totaled 277 billion BOE at the end of the year. Exploration and development (E&D) spending in 2017 increased 11% from 2016 levels, but remained 47% lower than 2013 levels.

GAZPROM - The meeting highlighted that Germany continued to ramp up its imports of Russian gas. According to preliminary data, from January 1 through June 19, 2018, Gazprom supplied Germany with 28.2 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 13.1 per cent from the same period of 2017.

U.S. EIA - Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, in large part because of the heavy oil reserves in the Orinoco Oil Basin. In addition to oil reserves, Venezuela has sizeable natural gas reserves, although the development of natural gas lags significantly behind that of oil. However, in the wake of political and economic instability in the country, crude oil production has dramatically decreased, reaching a multi-decades low in mid-2018.

U.S. BEA - The U.S. current-account deficit increased to $124.1 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2018 from $116.1 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The deficit was 2.5 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, up from 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

WNN - There are 126 operational power reactors in 14 EU Member States, providing more than one-quarter of the bloc's total electricity production. In its Communication on the Nuclear Illustrative Program (PINC) published last year, the European Commission expects nuclear to maintain its significant role in Europe's energy mix up to 2050. This would require investment of some EUR40-50 billion (USD46-58 billion) in nuclear LTO by 2050.

REUTERS - Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up 50 cents at $75.58 a barrel by 0835 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 50 cents higher at $65.57.

BLOOMBERG - OPEC members are discussing a compromise agreement that would see an oil production increase of between 300,000 and 600,000 barrels a day over the next few months,

PLATTS - Iran will not accept any proposals for OPEC to raise its quotas, the country's oil minister said Tuesday, adding that even a 500,000 b/d increase "is not necessary." "Decisions in OPEC need unanimity," Bijan Zanganeh said on arrival in Vienna ahead of OPEC talks this week. "I don't think at this meeting we can reach an agreement."

API - “Instead of utilizing a transparent decision-making process that provided room for input from key stakeholders, the administration continues to take serious missteps in the trade arena that could undermine American jobs and America’s role on the global energy stage. Trade wars with key trading partners will be detrimental to the U.S. economy and consumers.”

PLATTS - Since the US dropped all limits on crude exports in 2015, China has competed with Canada as the top buyer of US crude. US crude exports to China averaged over 358,000 b/d in the first quarter, up from nearly 175,000 b/d in Q1 2017. US crude's market share in China rose to 3.5% from 0.4% over the same period.