IMF - The oil endowment allowed Angola to rebuild critical infrastructure, and progress has also been achieved in reducing poverty. Still, much remains to be done to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil and its vulnerability to oil price fluctuations so that enough resources can be made available to improve living standards for all the Angolan people.

PLATTS - Brazilian state-led oil company Petrobras registered a 1.4% month-on-month slide in domestic crude oil output in November as ongoing maintenance work at offshore floating production units offset fresh flows from new wells.

REUTERS - Brent crude oil LCOc1 dropped $1.67 a barrel, or 3.1 percent, to a low of $52.80 before recovering to around $53.45 by 1205 GMT. U.S. light crude oil CLc1 slipped $1.30 to $44.92 and was last 80 cents lower at $45.42.

PLATTS - The US has long opposed the Nord Stream expansion, arguing that Europe should not be so dependent on Moscow for energy. The government has recently been touting US LNG exports as an alternative to Russian gas, in addition to supporting the Southern Gas Corridor from the Caspian region to the EU.

GAZPROM - Pursuant to the investment program for 2019, the overall amount of investments will stand at RUB 1,325.724 billion, with RUB 963.019 billion intended for capital investments, RUB 151.505 billion for the acquisition of non-current assets, and RUB 211.2 billion for long-term financial investments.

PLATTS - The downward trend in output from Mexico's state oil company Pemex continued in November as oil and gas production fell 2.7% and 2.3% respectively, from the previous month, company data showed Wednesday.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1, were up 29 cents, or 0.68 percent, at $42.82 per barrel, at 0355 GMT, having at one point risen as high as 2 percent from the last close. They had slumped 6.7 percent in the previous session to $42.53 a barrel - the lowest since June 2017. Meanwhile Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were down 11 cents or 0.22 percent at $50.36 a barrel, having skidded 6.2 percent in the previous session to $50.47 a barrel, the weakest since August 2017.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Принято консолидированное решение о совместных действиях с коллегами из ОПЕК и не ОПЕК по сокращению добычи на 2,5% для стран ОПЕК и 2% для стран не ОПЕК.

REUTERS - “I think that during the first half, due to joint efforts, which were confirmed by the OPEC and non-OPEC countries this December, the situation will be more stable, more balanced,” Novak said in an interview on Rossiya-24 TV.

AN - “Based on available figures, we have around 26 million barrels of surplus ... compared to 340 million barrels in early 2017,” Al-Mazrouei told a press conference in Kuwait City.

OGJ - US crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 500,000 bbl for the week ended Dec. 14, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

AN - Rouhani gave the value of the draft budget at about 4,700 trillion rials for the next Iranian year which starts on March 21, 2019 He said US sanctions would affect Iranians’ lives and growth but not bring the government to its knees

REUTERS - International benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 60 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $54.42 a barrel at 0408 GMT. Prices climbed to as high as $54.66. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $45.96 a barrel after earlier climbing to as high as $46.24.

U.S. EIA - U.S. primary energy production totaled 8.0 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), a 10% increase compared with September 2017.

PLATTS - Three aggressive independent Permian Basin upstream operators released capital budgets for 2019 in the last few days that are lower than either prior expectations or actual 2018 spending by at least 12% to 15%, as corporate executives attributed reduced activity to the recent plunge in oil prices.