PLATTS - OPEC's second-largest producer, Iraq, boosted its southern crude oil exports to a new record high of 3.583 million b/d in August, according to the latest oil ministry data.

FT - Higher energy prices and a weakened rouble saw second-quarter profits soar at three of Russia’s largest oil and gas groups, underlining a strong earnings season for the country’s energy industry that has weathered international sanctions to reap strong earnings.

REUTERS - Liquefied natural gas exports from Novatek’s Yamal terminal in the Arctic have come on stream faster than expected over the summer and exceeded volumes from Russia’s only other LNG facility, Sakhalin, for the first time in August.

PLATTS - Libya's crude oil production edged up again this week, with increased output from two smaller fields in the east of the country, sources said Friday.

REUTERS - Japan’s consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is set to fall as the country’s nuclear reactors restart, with output from atomic power set for its highest since the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.

IAEA - "The vision of Saudi Arabia 2030 considers nuclear energy as an important source to support stability and sustainable growth,” he said. “Deployment of nuclear energy aims for peaceful purposes, in a safe, secure and sustainable manner consistent with highest standards and best practices. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has requested the INIR mission to support this goal. It was a valuable tool to pinpoint areas of improvement and ensure that the required infrastructures are in place before signing the contract for building the first nuclear power plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

WNN - Indonesia's National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) has signed an agreement with China's Tsinghua University to cooperate on human resources capacity building.

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.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 4 rigs from last week to 1,048, with oil rigs up 2 to 862, gas rigs up 2 to 184, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2. Canada Rig Count is down 1 rig from last week to 228, with oil rigs down 2 to 151 and gas rigs up 1 to 77.

REUTERS -International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $77.64 per barrel at 0654 GMT, down 13 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were unchanged at $70.25 a barrel.

GAZPROM - Profit attributable to the owners of PJSC Gazprom for the six months ended June 30, 2018 totalled RUB 630,804 million which is by RUB 249,458 million, or 65 %, more than for the same period of the prior year.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Заместитель Министра отметил, что потребление угля в мире ежегодно растёт на 2-2,5%, увеличиваются и объёмы поставок из России. «За двадцатилетний период доля России на международном рынке выросла с 6% до 14%. В этом году мы ожидаем, что экспорт угля из России составит около 200 млн т, это рекордные показатели за всю историю», - отметил замминистра.

PLATTS - Russian gas supplies to Europe and Turkey rebounded in August, according to data released by gas giant Gazprom, after a dip the previous month during the planned outage of the main Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany.

PLATTS - China's consumption of oil products rose 7.2% year on year to 27.54 million mt in July, data released Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission showed.

SHANA - Sitting atop 18% of the world's proven gas reserves, Iran ranks the first in terms of holding natural gas in the world. Owing to development of gas fields in recent years, Iran’s average gas production has reached 800 mcm/d, 600 mcm/d of which is consumed domestically.