U.S. Energy Secretary said U.S. LNG exports topped 100 mln tonnes last year for the first time and are expected to exceed 120 mln tonnes this year. He said growth has been driven by firms including Caturus, which recently announced a large-scale expansion of its Gulf Coast LNG export facility.

Bankers will begin marketing roughly $49bn of debt to back Paramount’s $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery after litigation tied to the deal was settled, people familiar with the matter said. Bank of America, CITIGROUP and Apollo Global Management previously underwrote one of the largest leveraged buyout debt packages on record and drew strong investor interest before the deal was paused. With the transaction now cleared to close, bankers plan to start sales in the coming weeks. The financing package is split roughly into $30bn of investment-grade bonds, a $7.5bn investment-grade loan and about $12bn of subordinated bonds, with a broader investor target than a typical LBO, covering dollar and euro investors.

Iran's deputy parliament speaker warned the United States that if it does not stop provocations, it will face higher gasoline and oil prices.