Aramco generated earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) of $224 billion in 2018, Fitch said on Monday, surpassing ExxonMobil, the world’s largest listed oil firm.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is down 10 rigs from last week to 1,006, with oil rigs down 8 to 816, gas rigs down 2 to 190, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0.Canada Rig Count is down 17 rigs from last week to 88, with oil rigs down 14 to 35 and gas rigs down 3 to 53.

Saudi Aramco announced the signing of a share purchase agreement to acquire a 70% majority stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, in a private transaction for $69.1bn.

The new facility will be used for large scale fabrication of offshore platforms and onshore/offshore modules.

IEA - Energy demand worldwide grew by 2.3% last year, its fastest pace this decade, an exceptional performance driven by a robust global economy and stronger heating and cooling needs in some regions.

Aramco’s gas expansion strategy needs $150 billion of investment over the next decade as the company plans to increase output and later become a gas exporter, Nasser had said in November.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is down 10 rigs from last week to 1,016, with oil rigs down 9 to 824 and gas rigs down 1 to 192. Canada Rig Count is down 56 rigs from last week to 105, with oil rigs down 49 to 49 and gas rigs down 7 to 56.

U.S set a new record for oil production at 12.1 million barrels a day (mb/d) in February, continuing America’s position as the world’s leading oil producer.

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Mar. 15, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased 9.6 million bbl from the previous week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.

Oil & Gas UK estimates exploration and production companies would have to spend about $265 billion between 2019-35 to realize industry’s expectations outlined in Vision 2035 on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

PetroChina Company Limited (“the Company”, HKSE: 0857; NYSE: PTR; SSE: 601857) announced that the Company’s high-quality development is starting to achieve good results, with net profit increasing substantially by 130.7% year-on-year in 2018.

Net profit increased significantly and financial status remained healthy  All-in cost of US$30.39/boe, down 6.6% YoY;  Net profit of RMB 52.69 billion, up 113.5% YoY;  Final dividend of HK$0.40 per share (tax inclusive)

U.S. EIA - Crude oil production from the major US onshore regions is forecast to increase 85,000 b/d month-over-month in April from 8,507 to 8,592 thousand barrels/day , gas production to increase 883 million cubic feet/day from 78,137 to 79,020 million cubic feet/day .

NPD - Preliminary production figures for February 2019 show an average daily production of 1 745 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is a decrease of 75 000 barrels per day compared to January.

OGJ - Stephen Blank, senior fellow for Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council, said, “Nord Stream 2 clearly is a threat to Europe, which is why the Trump administration opposes it. We have now threatened that if Nord Stream 2 is built, the US will impose sanctions not just on the project, but also on the contractors.”