NB - The Government Pension Fund Global returned -6.1 percent, or -485 billion kroner, in 2018.

MEOG - Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser gave a speech at London Petroleum Week about the oil and gas industry's future--or, rather its perceived lack of a future. He addressed what he called a "worrying and growing belief among policy makers and regulators, investment houses, NGOs, and many others that we are an industry with little or no future."

The next 10-15 years will be a period of stable development for the oil industry and prices will remain relatively high at $60-$70/b, the CEO of Lukoil, Russia's second-largest crude producer, said Wednesday.

RECHARGE - The EU will spend up to €10bn ($11.37bn) supporting innovative low-carbon technologies in sectors such as renewables and energy storage over the next decade, said the European Commission.

U.S. BEA - Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the "initial" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.4 percent.

IMF - Looking ahead, Armenia's growth is expected to moderate to about 4½ percent in 2019, reflecting a weaker global environment and copper prices, and remain in the 4-5 percent range over the medium term. CPI inflation is projected to gradually converge to the CBA’s target of 4 percent over the next two years, as one-off factors wane. The current account deficit is expected to gradually narrow to around 5 percent of GDP. The risks to the outlook are mainly external.

Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $59 per barrel (b) in January, up $2/b from December 2018 but $10/b lower than the average in January of last year.

EXXONMOBIL - ExxonMobil said it has made a natural gas discovery offshore Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean at the Glaucus-1 well.

Russia delivered a record amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in February, becoming the biggest supplier of the chilled fuel to the continent for the first time.

Novatek’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Gyetvay said the company would build all equipment and technology in Russia to protect itself. “We will not hold ourselves hostage to U.S. sanctions,” he told the IP Week conference in London.

Repsol posted net income of 2.341 billion euros in 2018, a 10% increase from the 2.121 billion earned in 2017 and the highest in eight years. This was achieved with average Brent oil prices at 71 dollars per barrel last year, compared with more than 111 dollars in 2011.

Oil prices climbed on Friday as markets tightened amid output cuts by producer club OPEC, but surging U.S. supply and concerns of global economic slowdown kept a lid on further gains.

BHGE - U.S. Rig Count is up 57 rigs from last year's count of 981, with oil rigs up 43 and gas rigs up 14. Canada Rig Count is down 91 rigs from last year's count of 302, with oil rigs down 71 and gas rigs down 20.

The USA risks losing a substantial portion of its nuclear power capacity unless it takes policy action, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol told the US Senate

2017-18 was a strong year for the Future Fund, delivering a return of 9.3% and adding over $12 billion in earnings.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Как отметил по итогам встречи Александр Новак, Россия полностью выполняет взятые на себя обязательства в соответствии с раннее заявленными планами поэтапного сокращении добычи к концу марта этого года.

МИНФИН РОССИИ - По состоянию на 1 марта 2019 г. объем ФНБ составил 3 887 883,6 млн. рублей, что эквивалентно 59 125,0 млн. долл. США,

МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января – февраля 2019 года составила $ 61,76 за баррель.

БАНК РОССИИ - Физический объем ВВП России в 2018 году увеличился на 2,3%, что оказалось несколько выше прогноза Банка России (1,5–2%) и уровня, соответствующего долгосрочному потенциалу экономики.

Oil prices rose on Monday, buoyed by output cuts by producer club OPEC and reports that the United States and China are close to a deal to end a bitter tariff row that has slowed global economic growth.