July 2019

Iran said on Sunday it will shortly boost its uranium enrichment above a cap set by a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, prompting a warning ‘to be careful’ from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pressured Tehran to renegotiate the pact.

Ukraine and Russia have been in dispute over gas issues for years, which escalated after a pro-Russian leader of Ukraine was toppled in 2014.

The head of state-run energy firm Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, has said that Ukraine needs to increase its gas reserves by 18% this year to cover its winter needs and to guarantee transit to European consumers.

The 229 million cu m sold Thursday is about half the average daily flows of total Russian gas to Europe last month of around 464 million cu m.

Equinor ASA (OSE: EQNR, NYSE EQNR) has agreed with Lundin Petroleum AB to divest a 16 percent shareholding in Lundin Petroleum for a direct interest of 2.6 percent in the Johan Sverdrup field and a cash consideration of around USD 650 million.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down $0.79 at $56.55 per barrel by 0754 GMT. There was no settlement price on Thursday because of the Independence Day holiday in the United States. Front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down $0.23 at $63.07 per barrel. Both benchmarks were set for their biggest weekly falls in five weeks.

Президент России особо подчеркнул, что Россией и Италией накоплен богатый опыт взаимодействия в энергетике. «50 лет назад был заключен первый контракт о поставке природного газа. Россия является крупнейшим экспортером газа на итальянский рынок, в прошлом 2018 году наши поставки в республику достигли 22,8 млрд куб. м газа, что составляет около трети от потребностей экономики страны», - подчеркнул он.

June oil imports from Russia to China were up 31.7% on month from 1.76 million mt in May, hitting a five-month high, and also 124% higher from a year earlier.

British Royal Marines seized a giant Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday for trying to take oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions, a dramatic step that drew Tehran’s fury and could escalate its confrontation with the West.

The United States has targeted Cuba’s state-run company Cubametales as part of its Venezuela-related sanctions, according to a notice posted on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website on Wednesday.