PLATTS - Japan's LNG imports slipped 2.6% year on year to 7.9 million mt in March with imports from Papua New Guinea dropping, Ministry of Finance data released Thursday showed. PNG LNG had shut its plant after a massive earthquake hit the region on February 26. Japan's imports from PNG fell 65.7% from a year ago to 145,580 mt, or about two cargoes, in March.

REUTERS - Russia was China’s largest crude oil supplier in March, data showed on Tuesday, retaining the lead spot for a 13th consecutive month.

SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran is currently exporting upwards of 2.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and gas condensate (ultra-light form of crude).

SHANA - A senior Iranian gas official said the country’s natural gas exports will cross 60 million cubic meter per day by the end of the current Iranian calendar to March 20 2019.

REUTERS - Uzbekistan plans to join an $8 billion project to build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to India, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Monday, although it was unclear whether Tashkent might eventually ship gas through it.

PLATTS - Global LNG imports in 2017 increased by nearly 10%, the highest annual growth rate since 2010, reaching 289.8 million mt, while expectations of an LNG surplus failed to materialize as rising imports into China contributed to balancing the market.

SHANA - The CEO of the Iranian Gas Commercial Company (IGCC) said his company, as the sole exporter of gas products in Iran, is currently seeking new markets for exporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

PLATTS - Russia is committed to its OPEC pact with Saudi Arabia and will continue supplying Europe energy despite tensions with the West after US-led strikes on Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, said Vladimir Putin's spokesman.

PLATTS - "Our collaboration will be a win-win for all," Pradhan told reporters. Pradhan said India offers attractive oil and gas markets for the US as the country is the fastest-growing large economy, with 8% annual growth in energy consumption.

EIA - U.S. dry natural gas production will increase through 2050 across a wide variety of alternative assumptions about the future. In the Reference case, which is based on current laws and regulations, production grows 59% from 2017 to 2050, starting at 73.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017 and reaching 118 Bcf/d in 2050.

PLATTS - The EU's main challenge is in natural gas, as 76% of the EU's gas imports came from just Norway and Russia in 2016,

BLOOMBERG - Gas output will expand by 24 billion cubic feet, or 32 percent, through 2025 from last year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. To support that growth, the country’s gas industry needs to spend $170 billion over the next seven years on pipelines, compressor stations, export terminals and other related infrastructure, said Meg Gentle, chief executive officer of gas exporter Tellurian Inc.

REUTERS - The $54 billion Gorgon project came on stream in March 2016 but suffered numerous unplanned shutdowns in its early stages.

REUTERS - South Korea’s March crude oil imports from Iran dropped 39.3 percent from a year earlier on slowing demand for Iranian oil, the country’s customs data showed on Sunday.

PLATTS - "It cannot be the case that Nord Steam 2 means that Ukraine no longer has any significance in transiting [Russian] gas," Merkel said after a meeting with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.