PLATTS - The issuance of a combined 2.8 million b/d cap on formerly exempt members Libya and Nigeria at the organization's November 30 meeting means that OPEC as a whole now has a notional collective ceiling of 32.74 million b/d, when all the members' quotas are added up. From January-November, compliance was 108% according to S&P Global Platts, one of the six secondary sources used by the organization to monitor output.

The price of oil in 2018 will be volatile with commodity market traders selling on signals of OPEC-Russia “cheating” or members producing more oil than the extended Algiers Agreement output quotas.

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Мы выйдем на 690 миллиардов кубометров газа. Это плюс 8% к показателю прошлого года. Знаковым событием стал ввод первой очереди завода Ямал СПГ». Глава энергетического ведомства подчеркнул, что полным ходом идет строительство газопроводов Турецкий поток и Сила Сибири.

ROSATOM - Khartoum, 21 December – Rusatom Overseas (a company of ROSATOM) and the Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity of the Republic of the Sudan signed an agreement on the development of NPP construction project in Sudan.

ГАЗПРОМ - еще в начале ноября Австрия превзошла исторический рекорд импорта российского газа, установленный по итогам 2005 года (6,8 млрд куб. м). С 1 января по 21 декабря 2017 года «Газпром», по предварительным данным, поставил в республику 8,25 млрд куб. м газа — на 2,4 млрд куб. м (40,7%) больше, чем за аналогичный период прошлого года.

U.S. Rig Count is up 1 rig from last week to 931, with oil rigs unchanged at 747, gas rigs up 1 to 184, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canada Rig Count is down 28 rigs from last week to 210, with oil rigs down 14 to 120 and gas rigs down 14 to 90.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.16 a barrel at 0755 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $64.81 a barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.1 percent.

GAZPROM - “Today, we laid the basis for another pipeline route of Russian gas supplies to China. The project will expand the range of options for satisfying the growing demand for gas in the Chinese market,” said Alexey Miller.

GAZPROM - With LNG demand on the rise, Gazprom is making further efforts in this line of business.

PLATTS - Germany's total primary energy consumption for 2017 is forecast to rise by 0.8%, mainly due to strong economic growth, with oil and gas further boosting their market share to 58.3% of the energy mix, German research group AG Energiebilanzen (AGEB) said Thursday.

REUTERS - Japan’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports from the United States are expected to double in 2017 to a record and account for around for around half of its total purchases, government and shipping data showed.

FT - Mr Fridman would acquire an interest in the Wingate gas platform off the east coast of England as part of a proposed merger between DEA, an energy company he controls, and Wintershall of Germany, which operates the UK field.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were up 29 cents at $64.09 a barrel by 1438 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 26 cents higher at $57.82 a barrel.

BLOOMBERG - Saudi Arabia expects oil revenue to jump 12 percent next year in a sign the world’s biggest crude exporter expects prices to keep rising in 2018.

EIA - Crude oil production from the major US onshore regions is forecast to increase 94,000 b/d month-over-month in January to 6,408 million b/d, gas production to increase 764 million cubic feet/day to 63,030 million cubic feet/day .