PLATTS - Trading sources from Asia, which remains the premier destination of Iranian oil, told that even if US sanctions returned, crude oil inflows from Iran would be stable.

BLOOMBERG - Ukraine imported 14 billion cubic meters of gas from the EU last year, comparable to Belgium’s annual consumption. From this year, state-owned NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy should import 5 billion cubic meters annually under its contract with Russia’s Gazprom PJSC through 2019, and has to pay for at least 80 percent of that, according to the court.

BLOOMBERG - “Never before has the global LNG market had such significant flexible LNG volumes as the volumes coming online in the next three years, mostly from the U.S., which will lead to a fundamental shift in how LNG is marketed and traded globally,”

BLOOMBERG - Futures climbed as much as 0.9 percent in New York after rising 2.5 percent the previous two sessions. Inventories fell by 11.2 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report on Tuesday. If the draw is replicated in Energy Information Administration data Wednesday, it will be the biggest decline for this time of the year since 1999.

REUTERS - If the vessel is carrying Russian LNG and ends up in the United States despite the U.S. sanctions against Novatek, it would be the first ever Russian LNG to go to the United States, according to U.S. energy data.

IRNA - Iran exported some 777 million barrels of oil to Asian and European destinations in 2017, according to a report by the country's Ministry of Petroleum.

PLATTS - China's crude oil imports from Iraq in November surged 47.2% on year and 58.8% on month to hit a record high of 4.21 million mt or an average 1.03 million b/d, making the Persian Gulf producer its third-largest supplier, data from China's General Administration of Customs showed.

TOGY - The merger of the world’s largest LNG producers, Qatargas and RasGas, is complete, and the new entity, called Qatargas, has started operations, parent company Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced

REUTERS - Norway’s pipeline gas exports to Europe hit a record high in 2017, exceeding the previous year by almost 7 percent, preliminary data from the country’s offshore gas systems operator Gassco showed on Tuesday.

BLOOMBERG - After a glut sparked the biggest price crash in a generation and starved Russia of oil revenues, the nation sought to boost market share in the world’s top importer. It’s now supplanted Saudi Arabia as the top exporter to China, even as the two producers lead efforts to shrink the global oversupply by curbing output. A pipeline that transports crude from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean system has helped its mission to increase volumes.

PLATTS - Chinese imports of LNG in 2017 totaled 37.89 million mt, up 48.4% year on year, while imports by South Korea totaled 36.51 million mt, up 10.81% year on year.

PLATTS - Japan's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose 19.3% month on month to an average of 1.39 million b/d in November, preliminary data released Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.

PLATTS - Federal crude oil exports from Iraq's southern Persian Gulf terminals edged up in December to reach a new record high, averaging 3.535 million b/d, up 33,000 b/d from in November, the latest data from the oil ministry showed.

BLOOMBERG - Kuwait Petroleum Corp. signed a 15-year liquefied natural gas import deal with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to help the oil exporting nation meet growing domestic energy demand.

PLATTS - The amount of gas held within the UK's medium-range natural gas storage facilities has fallen by more than 50% since the end of November on the back of high demand allied to weaker UK gas production.