ADNOC - The Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have awarded Austria's OMV a 5 percent stake in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession that comprises the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr, Sarb and Mubarraz sour gas fields.

PLATTS - Saudi Arabia will require oil prices higher than $84/b to avoid running another deficit, analysts warned after the kingdom announced on Tuesday record government spending in its state budget for 2019.

REUTERS - Foreign investment in Saudi Arabia more than doubled in 2018 to 13 billion riyals ($3.5 billion), its economy and planning minister said on Wednesday, despite a global furor following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.

MEOG - King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), a 50sqkm "energy city megaproject" in Saudi Arabia, is one of the Kingdom's most impressive endeavours into localisation so far. Once operational, it is expected to generate 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and should contribute $6bn to Saudi Arabia's GDP annually.

MEOG - Saudi Aramco and Raytheon Company, through its subsidiary Raytheon Saudi Arabia, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture company that will develop and provide best-in-class cybersecurity services in Saudi Arabia and the region.

MEOG - In the oil and gas industry, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IOT), machine learning and big data can serve operators by increasing productivity and streamlining processes, all while helping them attract and retain talent, and remain secure and compliant.

REUTERS - India’s monthly oil imports from Iran plunged to their lowest in a year in November with Tehran dropping two places to become only the sixth biggest supplier after New Delhi cut purchases due to the impact of U.S. sanctions, according to ship tracking data and industry sources.

PLATTS - South Korea imported no Iranian crude in November for a third straight month due to the re-imposition of US sanctions on Tehran, according to preliminary data released by the Korea Customs Service on Monday.

TP - With fast growing demand and expanding gas receiving capacity in Pakistan, the South Asian nation is expected to source more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, said the country’s visiting Finance Minister Asad Umar.

REUTERS - Qatar Petroleum (QP) is looking to invest at least $20 billion in the United States over the coming few years, its chief executive told Reuters, after the Gulf Arab state unexpectedly quit OPEC this month.

IEA - Cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia is now the basis of production management with these two countries having a large capacity to swing output one way or the other. For them, prices falling further would place their budgets under great stress.

PLATTS - "The UAE is investing because we feel there is a requirement for this production, but we are not going to put that production into the market unless we feel there is a need for it," Mazrouei said after last week's OPEC meeting in Vienna.

SHANA - “OPEC resolution states that the Secretary-General and OPEC's President would allow countries that subject to certain sanctions to be exempted from production cuts,” Zangeneh added.

PLATTS - Russia will cut its liquids output by 50,000-60,000 b/d in January under the latest agreement with OPEC, energy minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday. "The monthly schedule for the output cut has already been [set]... We expect output will be cut by at least 50,000 b/d-60,000 b/d in January," he said, as reported by Prime news agency.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Как отметил Александр Новак, принятое решение о снижении суммарной добычи на 1,2 млн барр./сутки отражает ожидания рынка накануне встречи стран ОПЕК и не ОПЕК. As noted by Alexander Novak, the decision to reduce the total production by 1.2 million barrels per day reflects the market expectations on the eve of the meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries.