IMF - When we think about Asia’s economic future, we know that this future is being built on strong foundations—on the richness and diversity of its cultures, on the incredible energy and ingenuity of the people who have changed the world by transforming their own economies. China and India have been driving the greatest poverty reduction in human history by creating the world’s largest middle classes. In a single generation, Vietnam has moved from being one of the world’s poorest nations to being a middle-income country.

We reiterate our commitment to a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF to preserve its role at the center of the Global Financial Safety Net. We support the work of the IMF to strengthen its cooperation with regional financing arrangements, and its ongoing work to further enhance the effectiveness of its lending toolkit.

U.S. crude for October delivery CLc1 was up 41 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $47.89 a barrel by 0648 GMT, having tumbled 3.3 percent on Friday. London Brent crude for November delivery LCOc1 was up 30 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $54.08, having settled down 1.3 percent.

CEFC China Energy is set to take a stake of almost $9bn in Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, in a major strengthening of energy ties between Beijing and Moscow as relations deteriorate with the west.

Iran says its crude oil production will reach 4.5 million barrels per day in a matter of a few years, end of the 6th five-year development plan to 2022.

“There was a request from our colleagues in Venezuela to carry out a restructuring,” Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said. “There are difficulties in fulfilling the debt.”

Oil giant Saudi Aramco will on Wednesday add 1.9 million barrels (300,000 kilolitres) of crude to storage that it holds in Japan, a Japanese trade ministry official said.

India has won a big price cut on a 20-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with global giant ExxonMobil Corp in a rare contract renegotiation, a bad sign for global producers in a heavily oversupplied market.

The worldwide rig count for August 2017 was 2,116, up 6 from the 2,110 counted in July 2017, and up 569 from the 1,547 counted in August 2016.

U.S. Rig Count is up 436 rigs from last year's count of 508, with oil rigs up 342, gas rigs up 95, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 1. Canada Rig Count is up 68 rigs from last year's count of 134, with oil rigs up 28 and gas rigs up 41, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $49.12 barrel at 0146 GMT, 4 cents below their last settlement, but not far off more than three-week highs reached in the previous session. Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the United States, dipped 8 cents to $54.12 a barrel, though still not far from May highs reached the previous day.

“We welcome the President’s commitment to pro-growth tax reform, and look forward to working with the administration and Congress on continuing our nation’s energy leadership. Pro-growth tax reform and economic policies can further strengthen our energy infrastructure and benefit consumers. As an industry that invests billions in the U.S. economy each year, pro-growth policies would allow us to accelerate these economic investments while keeping energy affordable. Private investment in our nation’s energy infrastructure could exceed $1.3 trillion and support 1 million jobs annually through 2035.”

Over the first seven months of 2017, China's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) averaged 4.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), or 45% higher than during the same period in 2016. With the exception of a slight decline in 2015, LNG import into China have grown steadily over the last decade, increasing by 33% between 2015 and 2016. LNG imports growth has been supported by both government policies to replace some coal and oil use with natural gas as well as lower natural gas import prices.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $43.7 billion in July, up $0.1 billion from $43.5 billion in June, revised. July exports were $194.4 billion, $0.6 billion less than June exports. July imports were $238.1 billion, $0.4 billion less than June imports.

Almost $6 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions have taken place in the UK oil and gas sector in the first half of the year – sending a strong vote of confidence in a basin that has been grappling with the challenges of a major downturn, a new report reveals.