RIYADH: Oil futures fell as much as 1% on Thursday as a sharp drop in US retail sales and manufacturing output clouded the demand outlook.

At 10.30 a.m. Saudi time, Brent crude futures were down 86 cents, or 1.01 percent, at $84.12 a barrel, after falling about 1% on Wednesday. In the United States, West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 91 cents, or 1.14 per cent, to $78.57 a barrel. Oman LNG signed agreement with Total Energy and Thailand's PTT.

Oman LNG has agreed to supply 1.6 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas to France's Total Energy and Thailand's PTT, according to the Omani state news agency.

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According to the news agency, TotalEnergies and PTT will each receive 800,000 tonnes of LNG per year, with the French company starting a 10-year deal in 2025 and the Thai company starting supplies for nine years in 2026.

Thailand, a net importer of oil and gas, needs to increase LNG imports to offset a sharp drop in production at its biggest gas field, and sanctions threaten Myanmar's supply.

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Spikes in gas prices last year prompted Thailand to seek alternative energy sources from coal to renewables, according to an Energy Regulatory Commission official in October.

Global gas prices are set to hit an all-time high in 2022, as Russia's supply cuts put heavy pressure on European and global markets. Harbor Energy has announced job cuts as a result of the UK windfall tax.

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Harbor Energy, the largest oil and gas producer in the British North Sea, informed its employees on Wednesday that it intends to lay off staff as a result of an unexpected tax imposed on the industry last year. According to the spokesperson, jobs will be cut in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the extent of the cuts has not yet been determined.