U.S. BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent.

PLATTS - A 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas is not steep enough to make shipping cargoes to China unprofitable, but it adds an obstacle for the second generation of American terminals, industry observers said.

PLATTS - LNG produced from Russia's Yamal LNG project look set to stay in Europe in the short term on the back of high European natural gas hub pricing allied to firmer shipping rates due to tight Atlantic tonnage,

ET - India and Russia are expected to conclude an ‘action plan’ for expanding civil nuclear energy partnership during their annual summit here on October 5.

PLATTS - Limited supply-side flexibility in the gas market, a shortfall in Belgian nuclear and Nordic hydro in the power sector and a bullish wider energy complex have pushed gas, power and carbon prices to record highs, improving coal-fired generation spreads in the process.

REUTERS - The most-active Brent crude futures contract, for December,LCOZ8 was up 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $81.53 per barrel at 0548 GMT. U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $72.32 per barrel. It is set to gain rose 3.6 percent this month, the biggest increase since June.

ET - In a major breakthrough, Pakistan and Russia are set to sign a $10-billion offshore gas pipeline deal on September 27 in Moscow, a project planned by the latter to capture the energy market of Pakistan.

REUTERS -India’s annual economic growth surged to a more than two-year high of 8.2 percent in the three months through June, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government a political boost in the final year of his term before elections.

BAKER HUGHES A GE - U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 1,054, with oil rigs down 3 to 863, gas rigs up 3 to 189, and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 2. Canada Rig Count is down 19 rigs from last week to 178, with oil rigs down 13 to 122 and gas rigs down 6 to 56.

REW-2018 - Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the plenary session ‘Sustainable Energy for a Changing World’ during the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

MEOG - Chemicals company BASF and investment company LetterOne signed a transaction agreement to merge their respective oil and gas businesses in a joint venture, which will operate under the name Wintershall DEA.

REUTERS - China’s Sinopec Corp is halving loadings of crude oil from Iran this month, as the state refiner comes under intense pressure from Washington to comply with a U.S. ban on Iranian oil from November, said people with knowledge of the matter.

IMF - Philippines real GDP grew by 6.7 percent in 2017 and by 6.3 percent in the first half of 2018 (y/y) led by strong public investment. Inflation rose to 6.4 percent (y/y) in August 2018, averaging 4.8 percent year to date and above the inflation target band of 2−4 percent, led by adjustments in excise taxes, the rise in global oil prices, the weaker peso, and above-trend growth.

PLATTS - Japan's crude oil imports from Iran jumped 65% year on year in August, marking the fourth consecutive month of increase, according to government trade data released Thursday.

U.S. EIA - US oil production average 10.964 million b/d in July. Production in July was up 1.73 million b/d from July 2017. U.S. natural gas production average 100,243 million cubic feet per day. Production in July was up 11,093 mcfd from July 2017.

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom and five European energy companies are committed to fully financing Russia's 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 natural gas link to Germany if no external financing is raised

SHANA - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) CEO explicitly said his company, the sole producer of hydrocarbons in Iran, had no plans to reduce its output.

WBG - The $1 billion in World Bank Group financing is expected to mobilize another $4 billion in concessional climate financing and public and private investments. The program aims to finance 17.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage by 2025 – more than triple the 4-5 GWh currently installed in all developing countries.

REUTERS - Benchmark Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose to as much as $83.32 a barrel on Wednesday and were at $83.09 at 0335 GMT, still 36 cents, or 0.4 percent above their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $73.44 a barrel.

U.S. EIA - From January through June of 2018, net natural gas exports from the United States averaged 0.87 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), more than double the average daily net exports during all of 2017 (0.34 Bcf/d). The United States, which became a net natural gas exporter on an annual basis in 2017 for the first time in almost 60 years, has continued to export more natural gas than it imports for five of the first six months in 2018.