2018

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom and five European energy companies are committed to fully financing Russia's 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 natural gas link to Germany if no external financing is raised

MEOG - Chemicals company BASF and investment company LetterOne signed a transaction agreement to merge their respective oil and gas businesses in a joint venture, which will operate under the name Wintershall DEA.

WBG - The $1 billion in World Bank Group financing is expected to mobilize another $4 billion in concessional climate financing and public and private investments. The program aims to finance 17.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage by 2025 – more than triple the 4-5 GWh currently installed in all developing countries.

REUTERS -India’s annual economic growth surged to a more than two-year high of 8.2 percent in the three months through June, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government a political boost in the final year of his term before elections.

IMF - Philippines real GDP grew by 6.7 percent in 2017 and by 6.3 percent in the first half of 2018 (y/y) led by strong public investment. Inflation rose to 6.4 percent (y/y) in August 2018, averaging 4.8 percent year to date and above the inflation target band of 2−4 percent, led by adjustments in excise taxes, the rise in global oil prices, the weaker peso, and above-trend growth.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 1,054, with oil rigs down 3 to 863, gas rigs up 3 to 189, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 2. Canada Rig Count is down 19 rigs from last week to 178, with oil rigs down 13 to 122 and gas rigs down 6 to 56.

REUTERS - The most-active Brent crude futures contract, for December,LCOZ8 was up 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $81.53 per barrel at 0548 GMT. U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $72.32 per barrel. It is set to gain rose 3.6 percent this month, the biggest increase since June.

PLATTS - Limited supply-side flexibility in the gas market, a shortfall in Belgian nuclear and Nordic hydro in the power sector and a bullish wider energy complex have pushed gas, power and carbon prices to record highs, improving coal-fired generation spreads in the process.

PLATTS - LNG produced from Russia's Yamal LNG project look set to stay in Europe in the short term on the back of high European natural gas hub pricing allied to firmer shipping rates due to tight Atlantic tonnage,

PLATTS - A 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas is not steep enough to make shipping cargoes to China unprofitable, but it adds an obstacle for the second generation of American terminals, industry observers said.