OGJ - Sandra Oudkirk, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources, said Nord Stream 2 matters to the US because it would cement a transportation system in place that could perpetuate dependence on Russian gas for some key US allies. “It would not increase the amount of gas coming into Europe, only replace volumes that now are being transported through Ukraine,” she said.

PLATTS - The Russia-UK poisoning row threatens to put renewed strain on the two countries' deep-seated energy ties, illustrated by some of the first ever LNG shipments from Russia's vast new Yamal LNG facility now arriving in the UK.

REUTERS - Israel expects a decision to go ahead with the construction of a 2,000 kilometer (1,243 mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe to be made by early 2019, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters.

OPEC - The OPEC Reference Basket increased for the fifth-straight month in January, gaining a sharp 7.7% to average $66.85/b, the highest monthly average since November 2014. Oil prices were supported by continuing efforts by OPEC and participating non-OPEC producers to balance the market and ten consecutive weeks of crude inventory draws amid healthy economic growth and improving oil demand.

EIA - Exports grew to 1.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017, or 527,000 b/d (89%) more than exports in 2016, in the second full year of unrestricted U.S. crude oil exports. This is the largest single year-over-year increase of a petroleum (crude oil and petroleum products) export since 1920.

EIA - North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $65 per barrel (b) in February, a decrease of $4/b from the January level and the first month-over-month average decrease since June 2017. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average about $62/b in both 2018 and 2019 compared with an average of $54/b in 2017.

REUTERS - Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcofic in a phone conversation that gas transit would not be at risk until Gazprom and Naftogaz fully terminated their agreement.

GAZPROM - In early 2018, the demand for gas is still on the rise in the country. According to estimates, from January 1 through February 21, 2018, Gazprom delivered to Austria 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas, a rise of 60.6 per cent against the same period of 2017 (1.1 billion cubic meters).

PLATTS - China's crude oil imports from the US hit a new record high at 2.01 million mt or 474,450 b/d in January, General Administration of Customs data showed Monday.

EIA - China surpassed South Korea to become the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2017, according to data from IHS Markit and official Chinese government statistics. Chinese imports of LNG averaged 5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, exceeded only by Japanese imports of 11 Bcf/d. Imports of LNG by China, driven by government policies designed to reduce air pollution, increased by 1.6 Bcf/d (46%) in 2017, with monthly imports reaching 7.8 Bcf/d in December.

GAZPROM - The parties discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation, including the potential for supplying LNG from the Gazprom Group’s portfolio to Pakistan, as well as collaborating in hydrocarbon exploration and production in the country.

PLATTS - The Trump administration will not certify the Iran nuclear deal, US Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday, increasing the likelihood of re-imposition of US sanctions on international sales of Iranian crude.

U.S. DT - The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced the largest North Korea-related sanctions tranche to date, aimed at disrupting North Korean shipping and trading companies and vessels to further isolate the regime and advance the U.S. maximum pressure campaign.

PLATTS - Saudi Arabia's commitment to the OPEC-led production output cut deal was confirmed with reduced exports to key Asian outlets in 2017, but Japanese imports of Saudi crude jumped to the highest level in 35 years as the kingdom also maintained its flexibility to meet demand whenever there is a need. Japan's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose 9.5% year on year to 1.295 million b/d in 2017, or 40.1% of total imports in the year, and the country's imports of Saudi crude in 2017 were the highest since 1982, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data.

FT - The 25-year deal with China National Petroleum Corporation means Cheniere has pulled ahead in the race to develop a new wave of US LNG export projects to come on stream in the 2020s.