Oil prices rose to their highest level since November 2018 on Monday, driven upwards by OPEC’s ongoing supply cuts, U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, fighting in Libya as well as strong U.S. jobs data.

According to OPEC's latest monthly oil market report, global oil inventories stood at 2.88 billion barrels in January, about 19.1 million barrels above the five-year average that OPEC is targeting with its current output policy.

The kingdom will pump about 9.8 million barrels a day in March and April and export less than 7 million barrels daily in both months, Al-Falih said in March. Saudi Arabia has a production target of 10.3 million barrels a day.

Bulgaria, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas for its domestic needs, will lose hefty transit fees when TurkStream becomes operational at the end of this year and Gazprom stops its gas deliveries to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia via Bulgaria in 2020.

Annual U.S. crude oil production reached a record level of 10.96 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, 1.6 million b/d (17%) higher than 2017 levels. In December 2018, monthly U.S. crude oil production reached 11.96 million b/d, the highest monthly level of crude oil production in U.S. history.

Российско-турецкое взаимодействие в энергетической сфере приобрело стратегический характер, подчеркнул Президент России. “Россия остается крупнейшим поставщиком природного газа в Турцию, в 2018 году было поставлено 24 млрд куб м российского газа, это, кстати, покрывает почти половину от всех потребностей страны”, - отметил Владимир Путин.

“Уже сегодня доля СПГ в мировой торговле газом уверенно увеличивается. Мы ожидаем, что к 2035 году доля торговли СПГ вырастет до 52 %, к 2040 году - уже до 70%, а доля стран-участников рынка будет расти по экспоненте, особенно в странах региона АТР и Европы”, - полагает глава Минэнерго России.

Pakistan’s economic growth will decelerate to 3.4 percent in FY19 and 2.7 percent in FY20, as fiscal and monetary policies are tightened to address macroeconomic imbalances.

Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $66 per barrel (b) in March, up $2/b from February 2019. Brent prices for the first quarter of 2019 averaged $63/b, which is $4/b lower than the same period in 2018. Despite lower crude oil prices than last year, Brent prices in March were $9/b higher than in December 2018, marking the largest December-to-March price increase since December 2011 to March 2012.

It was noted that France ranks among Gazprom's key markets in Europe. The Company's gas exports to the country grew by 58 per cent in five years, reaching 12.9 billion cubic meters in 2018.

PLATTS - Iranian oil exports, which have been laboring under US sanctions since late last year, have recovered close to prior levels, supported by unflinching demand from China and South Korea, data from shipping sources and provisional tanker tracking data showed Tuesday.

Having slashed spending plans and run out of willing buyers for assets, some U.S. shale producers are turning to workforce cuts as investors step up demands for returns.

REUTERS - Saudi Aramco is set to raise $12 billion with its first international bond issue after receiving more than $100 billion in orders, a record breaking vote of market confidence for the oil giant which has faced investor concerns about government influence over the company.

Japan’s JERA, the world’s top buyer of liquefied natural gas, on Tuesday said it had signed an agreement with a Mitsubishi Corp unit to buy up to 16 cargoes, or 1.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), of LNG from the LNG Canada project.

Oil prices edged back towards five-month highs on Wednesday, supported by ongoing supply cuts by producer club OPEC and U.S. sanctions against oil exporters Iran and Venezuela.

The parties discussed key areas of cooperation between the companies, including gas supplies and the ongoing construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

In the first quarter 2019, NOVATEK’s hydrocarbon production totaled 147.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), including 18.66 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas and 2,987 thousand tons of liquids (gas condensate and crude oil), resulting in an increase in total hydrocarbons produced by 14.6 million boe, or by 11.0% as compared with the first quarter 2018.

Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, signed an agreement yesterday to sell its 22.45% non-operated interest in the Caesar-Tonga asset in the US Gulf of Mexico to Delek CT Investment LLC, a subsidiary of Delek Group Ltd (Delek). The total consideration for this deal is $965 million in cash.

Total world demand for the year is now expected to reach 99.91 mb/d and exceed the 100.00 mb/d threshold during 2H19. OECD oil demand growth is projected to reach 0.21 mb/d, with OECD Americas leading the increase, while oil demand in the non-OECD region is projected to rise by around 1.0 mb/d, with Other Asia and China being the primary contributors to growth.

With this weakness expected to persist into the first half of 2019, our new World Economic Outlook (WEO) projects a slowdown in growth in 2019 for 70 percent of the world economy. Global growth softened to 3.6 percent in 2018 and is projected to decline further to 3.3 percent in 2019.