"We want to bring inventories down to a more normal levels," Falih said. "We need to stay the course and do that in the weeks and months to come."

Russia sees a range of options that would allow OPEC+ to continue output cooperation until year-end, from easing the limits to ending the extreme throttling-back that has seen some countries exceed original cutback targets.

"Work to increase production to full capacity will continue, and in early June Kashagan should reach production levels of 370,000-400,000 b/d due to the work carried out during the maintenance," it said.

We will not talk about hydrocarbon energy - it is expensive, uses limited fuel supplies (oil, gas, coal) and pollutes the environment very much. We consider only three types of electricity generation - nuclear, solar and oxygen.

In line with plans to localise the production of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030 economic diversification push, seven photovoltaic solar power projects with a capacity of 1.52 GW and worth $1.51bn (SAR5.6bn) were launched on the side-lines of the recently concluded Saudi Elenex exhibition.

Brent crude was up by 90 cents, or 1.3%, at $73.11 a barrel, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 71 cents, or 1.1% higher, at $63.47 a barrel.

OPEC+ would take action to offset losses of Iranian supply if market fundamentals justified it. However, no policy changes will be made until the next full OPEC+ meeting in Vienna, in June.

Crudes are being priced at Dated Brent discounts between $15/b and $17/b, FOB, according to a PDVSA report.

Iran has sent abroad between 250,000 bpd and 500,000 bpd of oil so far in May, according to two industry sources who track the flows. Data from Refinitiv Eikon put crude shipments at about 250,000 bpd and exports of crude and condensate, a light oil, at about 400,000 bpd.

Libya is currently pumping almost 1.3 million b/d, National Oil Corporation Chairman Mustafa Sanalla told reporters. While production and exports have so far been unaffected by the recent escalation in fighting between the self-styled Libyan National Army, forces loyal to the UN-backed government and other militia groups, the violence threatens to destroy oil fields and export infrastructure, he said.

U.S. crude oil production sustained a record-tying 12.1 million barrels per day (mb/d) in April while total petroleum demand was the highest for the month since 2007 at 20.2 million barrels per day.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is down 1 rig from last week to 987, with oil rigs down 3 to 802, gas rigs up 2 to 185, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0. Canada Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 63, with oil rigs unchanged at 22 and gas rigs unchanged at 41.

July ICE Brent crude futures were up 35 cents/b (0.48%) from Thursday's settle to $72.97/b, while the NYMEX June light sweet crude contract gained 41 cents/b (0.65%) at $63.28/b.

The region needs more peace and stability to ensure the flow of oil supplies, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has said, noting that, "Any tension that occurs in the region affects the whole world."

“The U.S. and China have a natural supply-demand match when it comes to energy, but China’s increase of retaliatory tariffs to 25 percent poses a threat to U.S. investment in LNG by limiting our share in the world’s fastest growing LNG market,” said Stephen Comstock, API Director. “These retaliatory tariffs dampen the prospects for the growing U.S. LNG investment, hurt U.S. workers, and benefit America’s foreign competitors.