REUTERS - Exxon Mobil Corp is placing big bets on China’s soaring liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand, coupling multi-billion dollar production projects around the world with its first mainland storage and distribution outlet.

PLATTS - Norwegian natural gas exports to the UK jumped to their highest in six months Wednesday as consistently high UK prices incentivized flows normally only reserved for wintry periods.

AZERNEWS - The estimated cost of construction of nuclear power plant of Russian design in Uzbekistan will be about $ 11 billion, the launch of the first power unit has been planned for 2028, the Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Yury Ushakov said.

SHANA - Managing Director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) Hassan Montazer Torbati said the supply of one billion cubic meters per day of natural gas by National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) was one of the goals of the company by 2021.

WNN - China and Belgium have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The agreement was one of several accords signed in Brussels yesterday during a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

NPD - Preliminary production figures for September 2018 show an average daily production of 1 607 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 255 000 barrels per day compared to August.

BLOOMBERG - MEG Energy Corp. said Wednesday it had rejected a C$3 billion ($2.3 billion) hostile takeover by Husky Energy Inc. and plans to launch a strategic review with an eye to finding another buyer.

SHELL - Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), through its affiliate Shell Overseas Holdings Limited, has reached an agreement with publicly listed Norwegian Energy Company ASA (Noreco), to sell its shares in Shell Olie-og Gasudvinding Danmark B.V. (SOGU) for a consideration amount of $1.9 billion. SOGU is a wholly-owned Shell subsidiary that holds a 36.8% non-operating interest in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC).

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $72.17 a barrel by 0648 GMT on Wednesday, having settled up 14 cents. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $81.67 a barrel, after settling up 63 cents the session before.

OPEC - We forecast that primary energy demand, globally, is expected to increase by 33%, or 91 mboe/d, between 2015 and 2040. A massive 24% of this anticipated increase will be from India, or 22 mboe/d.

PLATTS - India will be looking to ship in more crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to fill part of the vacuum created by reduced appetite for supplies from Iran, which is facing US sanctions, according to delegates and policy makers attending the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek.

MEOG - Judaimi highlighted that the closer cooperation between Saudi Aramco and Indian energy entities is reflected in the partnership with RRPCL and ADNOC on the Ratnagiri mega-refinery and petrochemicals complex in Maharashta this year. He noted that nearly $2 billion in material-service sourcing with Indian companies to date; and the opening of the Aramco Asia India office in 2017.

REUTERS - The United States must not determine European energy policy or decide whether Germany buys Russian gas, a top German diplomat said on Tuesday.

FT - “Total has great ambition in this country, we want to be the largest foreign oil and gas player here,” the company’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said on Monday at the launch of a factory outside Moscow. 

PLATTS - Petrobras is to form two joint venture companies with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to complete construction of a refinery and revitalize four mature fields in the offshore Campos Basin, the state-owned Brazilian company said