OPEC - HH Sheikh Sabah praised all 24 participating countries, both OPEC and non-OPEC, for their joint efforts towards restoring much needed oil market stability, as well as keeping faith in the collaborative approach which is at the heart of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’.

REUTERS - India’s biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has agreed to buy the government’s majority stake in state-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp for 369 billion rupees ($5.78 billion).

OGJ - Albania’s government remains committed to detail to support any serious investor who will come up with a project for business development in Ballsh and Fier refineries, or a bid from an investor to develop a business plan in the sector, involving restart of both refineries.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $68.78 at 0128 GMT, down 53 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close. On Monday, they hit their highest since December, 2014 at $70.37 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.36 a barrel, down 59 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last settlement. WTI marked a December-2014 peak of $64.89 a barrel on Tuesday.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Когда мы говорим, что при формировании бюджета закладываем цену на нефть 40 долларов за баррель, все дополнительные нефтегазовые доходы, которые получаем сверх этой цены (только от нефти и газа, конъюнктурные доходы), мы не тратим, а сберегаем. Не разгоняем тем самым расходные обязательства.

BLOOMBERG - Russia’s oil and gas index may gain another 20 to 30 percent this year as investors have yet to price in Brent at $70 per barrel, according to Sberbank CIB. "The sell side is assuming an average oil price of $55 per barrel for 2018,” the bank’s analysts said in a Jan. 15 note. "Should the oil price stay at the current level, we will see a wave of earnings upgrades.”

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $69.23 a barrel at 0808 GMT, up 8 cents from their last close, but down from a high of $69.37 earlier in the day. Brent on Monday rose to $70.37 a barrel, its highest since December 2014, the start of a three-year oil price slump. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.84 a barrel, down from a high of $63.89 earlier, but up 11 cents from their last settlement. WTI hit $64.89 on Tuesday, also the highest since December 2014.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 декабря 2017 года по 14 января 2018 года составила $66,51306 за баррель, или $485,5 за тонну. Согласно расчетам Минфина России экспортная пошлина на нефть в РФ с 1 февраля 2017 года повысится на $8,7 и составит $120,1 за тонну.

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.

EIA - Crude oil production from the major US onshore regions is forecast to increase 111,000 b/d month-over-month in February to 6,549 million b/d, gas production to increase 890 million cubic feet/day to 64,071 million cubic feet/day .

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $70 per barrel at 0558 GMT, up 13 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $64.53 a barrel, up 23 cents.

PLATTS - Iraq is nearing a production capacity of 5 million b/d, though it will comply with its quota under the OPEC production cut agreement, oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said.

PLATTS - On Thursday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that Trump would likely announce the decision in the afternoon in Washington. If that deal unravels, 800,000 b/d of Iranian crude exports would be at risk, according to analysts.

REUTERS - Venezuela’s oil production has increased to near 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) after hitting a historic low last year, according to Manuel Quevedo, oil minister and head of state oil firm PDVSA, who vowed 2018 will see output rise to more than 2.4 million bpd.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.34 a barrel at 0755 GMT, down 46 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last settlement. WTI the day before rose to its strongest since late 2014 at $64.77. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $68.97 a barrel, down 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. Brent also marked a December-2014 high the previous day, at $70.05 a barrel.