OGJ - US President Donald Trump fired Rex W. Tillerson as secretary of State after barely more than 13 months on the job in a 5:45 a.m. tweet on Mar. 13 and said he intends to name Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo as his successor.

ROSNEFT - Essar Oil Limited (EOL) owned by the Consortium of International Investors led by Rosneft, since March 2017 to date has expanded the retail network Essar-branded fuel stations by 20% reaching 4,200.

WNN - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is this week discussing the prospect of closer economic and political ties, including nuclear energy projects, in a number of African countries. Lavrov has so far visited Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and will complete his trip to the region in Ethiopia.

REUTERS - Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcofic in a phone conversation that gas transit would not be at risk until Gazprom and Naftogaz fully terminated their agreement.

ROSNEFT - The decisions of ExxonMobil to abandon certain projects that fall under the legislative limitations once again imposed by the US government despite their successful development fully comply with the position of the American regulator that changed the way we collaborate on these projects.

ROSATOM - ROSATOM, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of the Republic of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the implementation of the Rooppur NPP construction project in Bangladesh.

FT - UK gas prices have soared this week as the extreme weather dubbed the “Beast from the East” generated huge demand for energy. Wholesale “same-day” prices more than quadrupled at one point to reach their highest level in at least 12 years.

BRITAIN'S COLD WINTER 2018

GAZPROM - In early 2018, the demand for gas is still on the rise in the country. According to estimates, from January 1 through February 21, 2018, Gazprom delivered to Austria 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas, a rise of 60.6 per cent against the same period of 2017 (1.1 billion cubic meters).

PLATTS - "I think we are seeing more cooperation, and my hope is that this group of OPEC and non-OPEC will incentivize the adequate investments among themselves to ensure we have adequate supply in the market," he said. "My worry is not an oversupply. My worry is an undersupply. Everyone is expecting that we will have more demand coming in the future."

GAZPROM - The parties discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation, including the potential for supplying LNG from the Gazprom Group’s portfolio to Pakistan, as well as collaborating in hydrocarbon exploration and production in the country.

NOVATEK - Profit attributable to shareholders of PAO NOVATEK decreased to RR 156.4 billion (RR 51.85 per share), or by 39.3%, as compared to 2016.

FT - Crude producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia will aim to draft an agreement to formalise their partnership for oil market co-operation by the end of 2018, the UAE’s energy minister said.

ROSATOM - February 13, 2018, Moscow. – ROSATOM and the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Innovations of the Republic of Congo today signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy.

PLATTS - "We understand that global demand for oil will continue to grow rapidly and this demand will need to be met, so we will likely need to work together, including on upstream technology and joint projects to meet this growing demand," Novak said.