January 2019

WBG - Global economic growth is projected to soften from a downwardly revised 3 percent in 2018 to 2.9 percent in 2019 amid rising downside risks to the outlook, the World Bank said on Tuesday. International trade and manufacturing activity have softened, trade tensions remain elevated, and some large emerging markets have experienced substantial financial market pressures.

PLATTS - India's 12 major government-owned ports handled around 78.24 million mt of thermal coal between April to December period, up 17% from the same period a year ago, according to latest data by the Indian Ports Association, or IPA released

PLATTS - The US Energy Information Administration forecasts that Venezuelan oil production will fall below 1 million b/d in the second half of 2019, according to Erik Kreil, an international energy analysis team leader with the EIA.

EXXONMOBIL - ExxonMobil said that it has signed a partnership agreement with IBM to advance the potential use of quantum computing in developing next-generation energy and manufacturing technologies. The new partnership was formally announced during the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $57.86 per barrel at 0538 GMT, up 80 cents, or 1.4 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were at $48.77 per barrel, up 81 cents, or 1.7 percent.

OGJ - US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, remained virtually unchanged for the week ended Dec. 28, 2018,

REUTERS - Iraq said on Friday it was committed to the OPEC+ output-cutting deal and would keep its oil production at 4.513 million barrels per day for the first half of 2019.

REUTERS - Libya’s oil revenue rose to $24.4 billion in 2018, up 78 pct from 2017, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in statement on Sunday.

BLOOMBERG - Home to the world’s biggest crude reserves, Venezuela exported 1.245 million barrels a day last year, the lowest since 1990, as production tumbles amid an economic and humanitarian crisis. Financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. have further tightened the screws on Venezuela’s ailing economy, while creditors have sought seize its assets including oil cargoes and its prized Citgo refineries in the U.S.

PE - A steadily growing fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers purpose-designed to combat the ice floes of the Northern Sea route is giving the giant Yamal plant in the Arctic Circle a long-term competitive advantage, as the vessels deliver gas into Asia and Western Europe in conditions that were until recently considered too hostile.