EIA - Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $74 per barrel (b) in June, a decrease of almost $3/b from the May average. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average $73/b in the second half of 2018 and will average $69/b in 2019. EIA expects West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices will average $6/b lower than Brent prices in the second half of 2018 and $7/b lower in 2019. NYMEX WTI futures and options contract values for October 2018 delivery that traded during the five-day period ending July 5, 2018, suggest a range of $56/b to $87/b encompasses the market expectation for October WTI prices at the 95% confidence level.

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.

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.

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

REUTERS - U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was 20 cents lower at $73.25 a barrel at 0730 GMT. On Thursday, the contract hit its highest since November 2014 at $74.03 per barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged at $77.85 a barrel.

PLATTS - "I think you're going to see a settling-down of the market -- people feeling comfortable that Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, we've got substantial production," Perry said, while acknowledging pipeline constraints in Texas that are holding back Permian Basin oil exports.

WSJ - Iran exports more than 2 million barrels a day of oil. President Donald Trump in May withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions that seek to force companies not to buy any Iranian oil.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1 had climbed 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close to $76.92 per barrel by 0650 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $70.88, up 35 cents, or 0.5 percent.