BLOOMBERG - Al-Falih wouldn’t rule out buying LNG from Russia, which this month opened a new plant in the Arctic, although he cautioned it wasn’t the most economical option at the moment.

REUTERS - Japan’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports from the United States are expected to double in 2017 to a record and account for around for around half of its total purchases, government and shipping data showed.

FT - Mr Fridman would acquire an interest in the Wingate gas platform off the east coast of England as part of a proposed merger between DEA, an energy company he controls, and Wintershall of Germany, which operates the UK field.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were up 29 cents at $64.09 a barrel by 1438 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 26 cents higher at $57.82 a barrel.

IEA - Coal’s share in the global energy mix is forecast to decline from 27% in 2016 to 26% in 2022 on sluggish demand growth relative to other fuels. Growth through 2022 is concentrated in India, Southeast Asia and a few other countries in Asia. Coal demand declines in Europe, Canada, the United States and China, the largest coal consumer by far, and where we forecast a structural but slow decline with some fluctuations linked to short-term market requirements.

API - Total petroleum deliveries in November rose to 19.9 million barrels per day. This was the strongest November monthly demand since 2007. Cumulatively through the first 11 months of the 2017, total domestic petroleum deliveries rose by 0.9 percent, which exceeded demand growth in 2016 despite higher prices.

BEA - The U.S. current-account deficit decreased to $100.6 billion (preliminary) in the third quarter of 2017 from $124.4 billion (revised) in the second quarter of 2017, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The deficit decreased to 2.1 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.6 percent in the second quarter.

BP - BP confirmed that production has started from the super-giant Zohr gas field, offshore Egypt. The field is operated by Eni, through its joint venture with The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and is the largest natural gas discovery yet to be made in the Mediterranean Sea.

NPD - Preliminary production figures for November 2017 show an average daily production of 1 813 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 102 000 barrels per day compared to October.

NPD - On Tuesday, the licensees, led by operator VNG, submitted a Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for Fenja in the Norwegian Sea. Investments are expected to total approx. NOK 10 billion.

NPD - On Tuesday, operator Repsol submitted a new Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the Yme field in the North Sea. More eight billion kroner will be invested in the development. The planned start-up is 2020.

EIA - Crude oil production from the major US onshore regions is forecast to increase 94,000 b/d month-over-month in January to 6,408 million b/d, gas production to increase 764 million cubic feet/day to 63,030 million cubic feet/day .

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $63.72 a barrel at 0821 GMT, up 49 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $63.72 a barrel at 0821 GMT, up 49 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 ноября по 14 декабря 2017 года составила $62,53932 за баррель, или $456,5 за тонну.

BLOOMBERG - OPEC’s Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said the producer group is close to its goal of rebalancing markets and the International Energy Agency said oil inventories in developed nations have slid to the lowest since July 2015. OPEC upped the implementation of promised cuts in November to 115 percent, the highest rate since the agreement began, according to the IEA.