Iran and South Korea are to start trading in euros, legally circumventing U.S. sanctions on dollar transactions with Tehran, a senior official announced Friday.

Oil prices fell Friday as OPEC's key producers cast doubt on the need to cut output, denting hopes of a deal to tackle a global supply glut.

When the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) rebel group announced this week it had called a ceasefire and was entering talks with the government, many hoped peace would be restored to the country's oil belt.

Private-sector loans in countries using the EU's single currency rose slightly in July, the European Central Bank (ECB) said Friday, in welcome news for the ailing eurozone.

Iran wants its pre-sanctions share of the crude market, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Friday, dampening the prospects of agreement on an output freeze at an OPEC meeting next month.

"Iran had no role in disrupting the stability of the oil market and after the (lifting of) sanctions we seek to revive our share in the global crude market," he said, quoted by the ministry's SHANA news service.

Russia's pipeline project to pump gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea is a bad deal for Europe that would destabilize Ukraine, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday.

The United States on Thursday threw its support behind World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim for a second term at the helm of the multilateral development lender.

"I am proud to announce that today the United States has nominated World Bank President Jim Kim for a second term," said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in a statement.

Taiwan moved Thursday to toughen its anti-money laundering law after U.S. authorities fined a local bank linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal.

Russia's largest lender Sberbank on Thursday announced it almost tripled its profits in the second quarter and predicted further stabilisation of the economy this year despite credit growth slowing.

Oil prices turned higher in Asian trade Thursday, a day after suffering hefty losses in response to data showing a surprise jump in U.S. stockpiles, while hopes for a deal to limit output were dealt a blow.

The U.S. energy department said Wednesday that inventories soared 2.5 million barrels last week, confounding forecasts for a fall and fanning worries about a global supply glut.