BLOOMBERG - With crude back at $70 a barrel, and a petroleum industry that cut costs to the bone after the oil crash, the stage is now set for another boom. But the good times could hamper Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s main aim of moving the economy away from a reliance on oil. As optimism now returns to the economy, signs of real progress on that project are few.

REUTERS -The deal follows an initial sale by Noble of 3.5 percent of the Tamar field in mid-2016. Combined proceeds from both deals amount to nearly $1.25 billion, of which almost $1 billion will be in cash, Noble said.

BLOOMBERG - The Gaselys carries liquefied natural gas originally produced in Siberia, according to vessel tracking data. The ship, poised to dock at Engie SA’s Everett import terminal, would be the first LNG shipment from anywhere other than Trinidad and Tobago in about three years.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $66.34 a barrel at 0144 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $70.49 per barrel, 3 cents below their last settlement.

API - Total petroleum deliveries in December rose to 20.7 million barrels per day. This was the strongest December monthly demand in the last decade.

BLOOMBERG - The expansion of Russia’s gas pipeline to Germany under the Baltic Sea, which bypasses a number of east European nations, will allow the Kremlin to use energy as a “political tool,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Warsaw.

EBRD - He noted Ukraine continued to be one of the world’s most energy-intensive countries, three times more so than the EU average, and he said the country should focus on energy efficiency, diversifying energy sources and improving municipal services and infrastructure. The EBRD President referred specifically to the need for further improvements in governance. Progress had been made but corruption was still a barrier to foreign direct investment, he said. The establishment of anti-corruption institutions could make an important contribution to increasing transparency in the economy.

BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 (table 1), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 11 rigs from last week to 947, with oil rigs up 12 to 759, gas rigs down 1 to 188, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is up 13 rigs from last week to 338, with oil rigs up 12 to 220 and gas rigs up 1 to 118.

PLATTS - The NYMEX February natural gas futures contract continued its surge Friday, as the February contract expired at $3.505/MMBtu, up 5.8 cents compared with Thursday's close.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $70.22 per barrel at 0556 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day marked its highest since December, 2014 at $71.28. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.38 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent from their previous close. WTI also touched its highest since December, 2014 in the last session at $66.66.

REUTERS - “China hopes to work with all parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic shipping routes,” the paper, issued by the State Council Information Office, said.

REUTERS - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told oil super-powers Russia and Saudi Arabia he believed U.S. shale oil boom would not become a spoiler for oil markets because new production would be absorbed by fast rising global demand.

BLOOMBERG - “We’ve gotten to a point where we don’t care,” whether prices will be sustained at the level that they have recently risen to, Adeosun said during an interview in her office in the capital, Abuja. “We’ve been able to balance our budget at $45-$46 per barrel and we’ve got to learn to live comfortably at that level.”

EIA expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average $2.88 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2018 and $2.92/MMBtu in 2019, slightly lower than the 2017 average of $2.99/MMBtu. Lower prices in 2018 and 2019 reflect EIA’s expectation of increased natural gas production and relatively flat consumption.