PLATTS - Japanese imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia in March rose 3.4% month on month to an average of 1.29 million b/d, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released Friday showed.

AOG - Bahrain, recently announced that it had unearthed around 80 billion barrels of unconventional oil and up to 20 trillion cubic feet of tight gas off its west coast. The discovery could potentially transform the island state’s reserves which currently total well under 200 million barrels.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Министры как сопредседатели Смешанной межправительственной Российско-Турецкой комиссии по торгово-экономическому сотрудничеству обстоятельно обсудили весь комплекс двусторонних торгово-экономических отношений, включая сельское хозяйство, промышленность, инвестиционно-банковскую и энергетическую сферы, в частности актуализировали статус совместных стратегических проектов, таких как строительство газопровода «Турецкий поток» и АЭС «Аккую».

SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran is currently exporting upwards of 2.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and gas condensate (ultra-light form of crude).

SHANA - A senior Iranian gas official said the country’s natural gas exports will cross 60 million cubic meter per day by the end of the current Iranian calendar to March 20 2019.

REUTERS - global liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports have risen 40 percent since 2015, to almost 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) a month. Growth accelerated in 2017, with imports up by a fifth, largely because of rising demand in China, but also in South Korea and Japan.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - страны ОПЕК и государства, не входящие в ОПЕК, выполнили соглашение по добровольной корректировке объемов добычи нефти на 149%, что является самым высоким показателем в истории соглашения.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Активная позиция позволила обеспечить консенсус ведущих стран-производителей нефти по вопросу реализации «венских соглашений» о добровольной корректировке добычи нефти. Рынок видит успехи наших усилий по сокращению объемов запасов и реагирует позитивным образом", - отметил Александр Новак.

SHANA - The CEO of the Iranian Gas Commercial Company (IGCC) said his company, as the sole exporter of gas products in Iran, is currently seeking new markets for exporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

PLATTS - Russia is committed to its OPEC pact with Saudi Arabia and will continue supplying Europe energy despite tensions with the West after US-led strikes on Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, said Vladimir Putin's spokesman.

AOG - Kuwait plans to invest $113bn over the next five years to enhance oil exploration and production activities both inside and outside the country

REUTERS - South Korea’s March crude oil imports from Iran dropped 39.3 percent from a year earlier on slowing demand for Iranian oil, the country’s customs data showed on Sunday.

REUTERS - “There is growing confidence that the declaration of cooperation will be extended beyond 2018,” Barkindo told. “Russia will continue to play a leading role.”

PLATTS - "Since 2013-2014 we have seen a rapid drop off in investment which we believe will bite the consumers and the industry as a whole," Falih said at a media briefing at the International Energy Forum. "We are trying to signal to the market, to the investors, to the financial community, to international oil companies to put investments back into the upstream."

BLOOMBERG - OPEC said its oil output fell to the lowest in a year last month amid reduced supplies from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, suggesting global markets may tighten sharply later this year.