PLATTS - OPEC oil output in March fell to 32.14 million b/d, its lowest level in 11 months, led by declines in seven out of the 14 member countries,

PLATTS - Russia is willing to work with the OPEC coalition indefinitely to regulate global oil supplies and has advocated the creation of a new global body to monitor crude markets, the country's energy minister said.

REUTERS - U.S. WTI crude futures CLc1 were at $62.31 a barrel at 0643 GMT, up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their previous settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $67.42 per barrel, up 31 cents, or 0.5 percent.

REUTERS - On Tuesday, Washington unveiled some $50 billion worth of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports and on Thursday Trump upped the ante, directing U.S. trade officials to identify tariffs on another $100 billion of Chinese imports. He said this was “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” against the earlier U.S. trade action. China responded by saying it was fully prepared to respond with a “fierce counter strike” if the United States followed through on the new threat.

REUTERS - Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund should be allowed to invest in unlisted renewable projects such as solar parks and wind farms, the ruling Conservative party voted on Saturday.

GAZPROM - from January 1 through April 8, 2018, Gazprom had supplied Austria with 3.7 billion cubic meters of gas, a rise of 77.2 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

EIA - Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $66 per barrel (b) in March. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average about $63/b in both 2018 and 2019. EIA expects West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices to average $4/b lower than Brent prices in both 2018 and 2019. NYMEX WTI futures and options contract values for July 2018 delivery that traded during the five-day period ending April 5, 2018, suggest a range of $52/b to $78/b encompasses the market expectation for July 2018 WTI prices at the 95% confidence level.

EIA - Two out of three of EIA’s measures of natural gas production in the United States set records in 2017. U.S. natural gas production measured as gross withdrawals reached 90.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, the highest volume on record according to EIA’s Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas Production Report. U.S. natural gas production measured as marketed natural gas production also reached a new high, but dry natural gas production did not exceed 2015 levels.

EIA - Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proved crude oil reserves and the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves. Despite its abundant reserves, Iran’s crude oil production has undergone years of underinvestment and effects of international sanctions. Natural gas production has expanded, the growth has been lower than expected. Since the lifting of sanctions that targeted Iran’s oil sector, oil production has reached more than 3.8 million barrels per day in 2017.

PLATTS - India's state-run refiners and Saudi Aramco signed an agreement Wednesday to jointly build an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex on India's west coast at a cost of $44 billion, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said.

PLATTS - Maintaining a long-term oil management alliance with Russia and other allies will allow OPEC producers to react more quickly to changing fundamentals and stabilize the market,

PLATTS - Russian flows of natural gas into Germany and Slovakia combined rose above 400 million cu m/d in each of the final three days of Week 14 for the first time on almost five months as Brotherhood flows increased, data from S&P Global Platts Analytics showed.

INDIA OIL MINISTER: OIL PRICE $80 IS 'TOO HIGH'

BLOOMBERG - “We are a very price-sensitive consumer,’’ Pradhan said on Tuesday. “From Indian consumers’ point of view, I will be more than happy if the price is around $50 a barrel.’’

REUTERS - Brent crude has gained 5.7 percent this week, rising to $71.34 a barrel on Tuesday, the highest since late 2014, although the price has since fallen back and was $70.98 a barrel by 0907 GMT LCOc1, down 6 cents.U.S. crude futures CLc1 were at $65.55 a barrel, up 4 cents on the day.

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."

PLATTS - "It cannot be the case that Nord Steam 2 means that Ukraine no longer has any significance in transiting [Russian] gas," Merkel said after a meeting with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

OPEC's Barkindo Says Geopolitcal Premium Has Re-Emerged in Oil Price

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.

REUTERS - GAIL renegotiated the terms of a long-term 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchase deal with Russia’s Gazprom in January.