2018

BLOOMBERG - Norway’s $1.1 trillion wealth fund shocked the world last year when it announced a plan to divest all its oil and gas stocks, worth $35 billion at the time.

BEA - The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $53.1 billion in December, up $2.7 billion from $50.4 billion in November, revised. December exports were $203.4 billion, $3.5 billion more than November exports. December imports were $256.5 billion, $6.2 billion more than November imports.

WNN - Indonesia's National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) is promoting the introduction of nuclear power plants to help meet the county's demand for power. It envisages the start-up of conventional large light-water reactors on the populous islands of Bali, Java, Madura and Sumatra from 2027 onwards. In addition, it is planning small HTGRs (up to 100 MWe) for deployment on Kalimantan, Sulawesi and other islands to supply power and heat for industrial use.

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.

REUTERS - Brent was down 68 cents, or 1 percent, at $67.91 a barrel at 0344 GMT, after falling 1.5 percent on Friday. Brent’s weekly drop was 2.75 percent last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined 72 cents to $64.73 a barrel, after dropping 0.5 percent in the previous session. WTI fell by 1 percent during the last week.

REUTERS - Gas output in China rose to a record 147.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) last year, up 8.5 percent from 2016, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Gas production is forecast to climb by between 6 percent to 8 percent per year through 2020, according to researchers at China National Petroleum Corp.

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.

FT - Mexico secured almost $100bn in investment in its most successful oil tender to date as Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell positioned itself as the biggest player in deepwater exploration and new companies including Qatar Petroleum burst on to the scene.