Brent LCOc1 was 60 cents higher at $50.82 a barrel by 1255 GMT (8.55 a.m. ET) after hitting an early high of $51.09. U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was last up 60 cents at $47.93.

Construction of the TurkStream gas pipeline was commenced in the Black Sea near the Russian coast.

Iran plans to strike $80 billion worth of oil contracts over coming two years as the country is set to implement newly-developed IPC contracts, a deputy head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said

Iran said that it has plans to increase its crude oil production capacity by 3 million barrels per day.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said Iran has so far recovered 1,060 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the supergiant South Pars Gas Field, adding the recovery has fetched Iran over 191 billion dollars in revenue.

Private investment in U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure could create over 1 million U.S. jobs.

OPEC will decide formally whether to extend the cuts when its ministers meet in Vienna on May 25. The producer group and other major suppliers including Russia agreed last year to cut their collective production by about 1.8 million barrels a day for the first half of 2017 in an effort to reduce bloated global stockpiles and re-balance the market.

International Brent crude futures were at $50.96 per barrel at 0646 GMT on Friday, up 19 cents, or 0.37 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $48.01 per barrel, up 18 cents, or 0.38 percent.

U.S. Rig Count is up 479 rigs from last year's count of 406, with oil rigs up 394, gas rigs up 85, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canadian Rig Count is up 37 rigs from last year's count of 43, with oil rigs up 13, gas rigs up 25, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.

The United States welcomes China, as well as any of our trading partners, to receive imports of LNG from the United States. The United States treats China no less favorably than other non-FTA trade partners with regard to LNG export authorizations. Companies from China may proceed at any time to negotiate all types of contractual arrangement with U.S. LNG exporters, including long-term contracts, subject to the commercial considerations of the parties. As of April 25, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy had authorized 19.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas exports to non-FTA countries.

Министр энергетики Российской Федерации Александр Новак и Министр энергетики, промышленности и минеральных ресурсов Королевства Саудовская Аравия Халид Аль-Фалих провели встречу для обсуждения перспективных направлений сотрудничества в свете Совместного заявления, подписанного «на полях» Саммита «Группы 20» в Ханчжоу 5 сентября 2016 г.

«Такие масштабные газотранспортные проекты как «Сила Сибири» и проект «Ямал СПГ» уже реализуются. Изучается возможность реализации проекта Азиатского энергокольца, предполагающего объединение энергосистем России, Китая, Монголии, Корейского полуострова и Японии. Эти инициативы внесут весомый вклад в обеспечение глобальной энергетической безопасности», - подчеркнул Александр Новак.

The light, sweet contract for June crude oil delivery gained 50¢ to close at $47.83/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange May 11. The July contract also climbed 50¢ to settle at $48.20/bbl. The natural gas price for June was up 8¢ to a rounded $3.37/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price gained 9¢ to $3.20/MMbtu on May 11. The Brent crude contract for July on London’s ICE was up 55¢ to settle at $50.77/bbl. The August contract increased 51¢ to $51.05/bbl. The June gas oil contract was $449/tonne, up $5.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, had risen $1.20 to $52.04 a barrel by 0847 GMT (4.47 a.m. ET) and traded intraday at $52.26, the highest since April 26. U.S. crude was up $1.18 at $49.02 a barrel.

Crude oil production from the seven major US onshore producing regions is forecast to rise 122,000 b/d month-over-month in June to average 5.401 million b/d. Gas production from the seven regions is forecast to gain 557 MMcfd month-over-month in June to 51.316 bcfd.

Cooperation will focus on grid planning, fundamental research, policy coordination, project development and information sharing, according to the deals signed between GEIDCO and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the African Union Commission, the League of Arab States and the grid management bureau with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

К 2035 году в соответствии с проектом Энергетической стратегии России планируется рост производства электроэнергии на основе ВИЭ более чем в 20 раз. Уже сейчас использование ВИЭ абсолютно экономически оправданно в отдаленных, изолированных районах, куда, например, дизельное топливо или мазут для электростанций завозить крайне дорого.

Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 апреля по 14 мая 2017 года составила $48,20889 за баррель, или $351,9 за тонну.

Brent crude oil was up 30 cents at $52.12 a barrel by 0750 GMT. U.S. light crude was 25 cents higher at $49.10 a barrel. Both benchmarks have risen more than $5 a barrel since hitting five-month lows 10 days ago.

Looking at 2Q17, if we assume that April’s OPEC crude oil production level of 31.8 mb/d is maintained, and nothing changes elsewhere in the balance, there is an implied stock draw of 0.7 mb/d. Adopting the same scenario approach for the second half of 2017, the stock draws are likely to be even greater. Even if this turns out to be the case, stocks at the end of 2017 might not have fallen to the five-year average, suggesting that much work remains to be done in the second half of 2017 to drain them further. In addition to production cuts and steady demand growth, a major contribution to falling crude stocks in the next few months will be a ramp-up in global crude oil runs. Starting in March, refinery activity is building up and by July global crude throughputs will have increased by 2.7 mb/d.