PLATTS - Europe is likely to be a prime destination for US LNG cargoes well into the next decade as shipping costs make Europe preferable to Asia as a destination for US exporters, Massimo Mantovani, head of gas and LNG marketing at Italy's Eni, said Monday.

PLATTS - "Imports of Russian crude oil and LNG do not go through any chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore they are important for the diversification of Japan's energy import sources, and I hope that Russia will play an even larger role. I would like to continue working to expand our cooperation," Seko said.

REUTERS - Nord Stream 2 has divided the EU, with German opposition to the new draft rules stalling discussions since it was proposed by the EU executive in November 2017.

REUTERS - The pipeline project, which is majority owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, plans to tap lenders this year, a spokesman for Nord Stream 2 told Reuters. He did not comment on the risk of new sanctions.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Александр Новак подчеркнул, что между странами ведется планомерная работа по укреплению нормативно-правовой базы двустороннего сотрудничества и расширению направлений взаимодействия. В ходе беседы также обсуждались крупнейшие энергетические проекты двух стран, в частности, газопровод “Турецкий поток” и АЭС “Аккую”, межрегиональное сотрудничество, кооперация в области сельского хозяйства. Особое внимание было уделено вопросам сотрудничества в сфере культуры и туризма в контексте планируемых в 2019 г. мероприятий по случаю организации Года культуры и туризма Россия-Турция.

REUTERS - Germany will not become dependent on Russia for gas due to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, stressing that it was crucial to ensure Ukraine remained a transit country for gas.

GAZPROM - The document, which serves as a follow-up to the Memorandum inked by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Energy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in September 2018, provides for a joint feasibility study regarding gas supplies from the Middle East to South Asian countries.

EIA - Recently announced U.S. sanctions directed at Venezuela’s energy sector and state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), will essentially eliminate U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude oil as the full effects of the sanctions emerge. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) does not anticipate any significant decrease in U.S. refinery runs as a result of these sanctions.

PLATTS - LNG exports from Australia's east coast rose 9% month on month to 1.93 million mt in January, buoyed by strong sales to China and Japan, data from the Gladstone Ports Corporation showed Thursday.

SHANA - Zangeneh said Iran had outdone Qatar in recovery from the giant offshore South Pars gas field and surpassed Iraq in production from jointly owned oil reservoirs.

PLATTS - US-based Anadarko Petroleum has agreed to sell 1.5 million mt/year of LNG from its planned 12.9 million mt/year Mozambique LNG project to China's CNOOC for a period of 13 years.

REUTERS - Steel pipe maker Tenaris will team up with Severstal, one of Russia’s largest steel producers, to make steel pipes in the heart of Russia’s oil and gas sector in Siberia, they said on Tuesday.

PLATTS - Qatar's plan to double its LNG carrier fleet by 60 vessels will be one of the largest fleet expansions the industry will witness to date and will be critical to the evolution of LNG trade flows and market dynamics in the next decade.

NOVATEK - PAO NOVATEK (“NOVATEK” and/or the “Company”) announced that Arctic LNG 2 (the “Project”) and Siemens signed a contract on compressor equipment for three liquefaction trains of the Project.

OGJ - US crude oil inventories for the week ended Jan. 25, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 900,000 bbl from the previous week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.