NORTH AMERICA Hess Files for Tax-Free Spinoff of Gas-Station Network - Bloomberg - The separation would be tax free

and distribute all shares in newly formed Hess Retail Corp. to holders of Hess Corp., according to a filing by the New York-based company today. Hess will continue to seek a buyer for the unit while pursuing the spinoff, which may occur this year, said Dennis Moynihan, a company spokesman. - Hess is the largest owner of convenience stores along the East Coast with operations in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to todays filing. Fuel Fix US oil boom will slow in 2015, feds forecast - U.S. daily crude production will slow next year for the first time since the nations shale oil boom began three years ago, according to a new federal estimate. - In its first forecast of the nations energy position in 2015, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected Tuesday that oil producers will increase production by about 750,000 barrels of oil per day in 2015. Thats a drop from an expected daily increase of 1.3 million barrels in 2014 and the growth of the past two years. Fuel Fix Chamber of Commerce joins call to lift ban on US oil exports - The Chamber of Commerce added its voice to the growing clamor to export American oil on Wednesday, with the groups CEO casting a U.S. ban on foreign crude sales as an antiquated policy that is on its way out. - Its important to look at energy as the next great American revolution that has the potential to help us on national security, Thomas Donohue told reporters after his State of American Business address. I think you will see us negotiating and working our way through it this year. SOUTH AMERICA Sacyr-Led Group Seeks $400 Million for Panama Canal Work - Bloomberg - A group led by Sacyr SA (SCYR) said it will need more money than the Panama Canal Authority is offering to continue expansion work on the waterway as a dispute over $1.6 billion in cost overruns threatens to delay its 2015 completion. Brazil's HRT Completes Purchase of BP Stake in Offshore Oil Field - WSJ.com - Brazilian oil company HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTP3.BR, HRTPY) said Thursday it had completed its purchase of a stake in an offshore oil field from BP PLC (BP, BP.LN), transforming the firm from an exploration company into an oil producer. EUROPE Statoil Said to Eye Deals as Government Loosens Control: Energy - Bloomberg - Encouraged by a newly elected conservative government thats considering reducing the states 67 percent stake, Statoil is studying overseas acquisitions, according to people familiar with the matter. - Its examining takeovers that would allow it to diversify away from Norway while diluting the states $51 billion shareholding, said the people, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. LME Approves 1st Chinese Company in Ring to Join JPMorgan - Bloomberg - GF Financial Markets (U.K.) Ltd. was approved for a Category 1 membership, the exchange said in a statement today. GF Financial Markets was created from the $36.1 million acquisition of Natixis Commodity Markets last year by a unit of Guangzhou, China-based GF Securities. Gold Mining Deals Seen Rebounding on Price Discount - Bloomberg - Investment bankers see gold-mining deals rebounding this year from a near-decade low as producers target assets at fire-sale prices after the metal plunged.

Gold-mining companies are close to their cheapest relative to book value in at least two decades, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile producers will be enticed to replace some of the output lost when they sold or curtailed less-profitable mines, said Barclays Plcs Paul Knight.

Gold Analysts Get Most Bullish in a Year After Rout: Commodities - Bloomberg - Gold analysts are the most bullish in a year on speculation that investors are reducing near-record bearish bets after the biggest plunge in prices since 1981.

ASIA / PACIFIC Shaanxi Coal $1.6 Billion China IPO to Be Biggest in 2 Years - Bloomberg - Shaanxi Coal Industry Co., Chinas third-largest producer, plans to raise 9.83 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in an initial public offering thats set to be Chinas biggest in more than two years. AFRICA Ivory Coast Sees Soaring Oil Output Rivaling Ghana by 2019 - Bloomberg - Ivory Coast Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said his nation will boost oil output within five years to 200,000 barrels a day, rivaling neighboring Ghana as stability returns to a country wracked by a decade of turmoil. Golden Star Achieves 2013 Production Guidance, Provides 2014 Guidance and Announces Appointment of COO WSJ.com - Golden Star Resources Ltd. (TSX:GSC) (NYSE MKT:GSS) (GHANA:GSR) ("Golden Star" or the "Company") today announces 2013 fourth quarter and full year production results for its Bogoso and Wassa mines as well as operational and financial guidance for 2014.

MIDDLE EAST Kurdistan to Sell Oil Via Pipeline to Turkey in January - WSJ.com - The autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan said Wednesday it plans to sell the first two million barrels of oil exported through its controversial new pipeline to Turkey at the end of the month. - Kurdistan says it expects exports to increase to four million barrels by the end of February and to six million barrels by the end of March, reaching between 10 million and 12 million barrels by December.