PLATTS - Oman's crude oil and condensate production in June jumped to its highest in eight months, another sign that key producers in the Middle East are beginning to pump more oil, the sultanate's oil ministry said in its latest monthly bulletin.

BLOOMBERG - The $10 billion refinery, set to be one of the world’s largest and process 650,000 barrels of crude a day, should be near full capacity by mid-2020, Edwin Devakumar, group executive director at Dangote Industries Ltd., said in an interview at the coastal site, about an hour’s drive east of Lagos.

REUTERS - Benchmark Brent LCOc1 was up 70 cents at $77.81 a barrel by 1150 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 was unchanged at $73.80.

SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said that Iranian crude oil and exports had not been affected as a result of US’s pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

REUTERS - Libya’s national oil production fell to 527,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a high of 1.28 million bpd in February following recent oil port closures, the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Monday.

REUTERS - Yet by 0649 GMT, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement at $73.10 per barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $77.32.

SHANA - Donald Trump's call on other countries to stop buying crude oil from Iran and putting European companies under pressure would be a kind of self-harm for the US leading to dramatic price hikes in the oil market, given Nigeria and Libya being crisis-stricken, Venezuela's crude oil output having plunged and Saudi Arabia's domestic consumption spike in summer, Iran's OPEC Governor says.

PLATTS - Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan oil field is achieving new production highs everymonth and has done better than 300,000 b/d, but development beyond the currentphase is likely to be about "discretionary step-ups" rather than giant steps,Shell country chair and vice president Olivier Lazare said Thursday.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 46 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $74.60 a barrel at 0343 GMT (11.43 p.m. ET), compared with their last settlement. On Tuesday, WTI hit its highest since November 2014 at $75.27. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were changing hands at $78.10 per barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.

BLOOMBERG - Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed an agreement between OPEC and its allies, which they say will mean increasing oil production by 1 million barrels a day.

WNN - A new basic energy plan that sets goals for Japan's energy mix to 2030 and presents scenarios to 2050 was today approved by the Cabinet. Under the plan, nuclear will remain a key energy source, accounting for 20-22% of the country's electricity generation up to 2030.

REUTERS - Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell $1.24 a barrel to a low of $77.99 before recovering to $78.40, down 83 cents, by 0735 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 50 cents lower at $73.65.

REUTERS - Kuwait will raise oil output by 85,000 barrels per day (bpd)starting on Sunday, part of an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to increase production by one million bpd, Energy Minister Bakhit al-Rashidi told a local newspaper on Saturday.

REUTERS - Libya’s oil production has been reduced to 315,000 barrels per day (bpd) as storage tanks at Hariga and Zueitina ports fill up due to eastern officials blocking exports, two Libyan oil sources said

PLATTS - India's oil ministry has instructed state-run refiners such as Indian OilCorp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. toscout for alternative sources to Iranian oil.