Dec 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100         index is seen to open 19 points
lower at 7,308 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. 
    
    * ROYAL DUTCH SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell          and PetroChina            
have taken a big step toward a long awaited gas development in Australia,
signing a 27-year deal to supply Shell's Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas
project.            
    * UNILEVER: Unilever         ,          Chief Executive Paul Polman on
Thursday defended his balancing of growth and margin, weighing in passionately
after a weak third quarter on a debate sparked by this year's unwanted approach
from Kraft-Heinz                     
    * BRITAIN-EU: The European Union has agreed a financial settlement with
Britain, a senior EU official told Reuters on Thursday, under which London has
committed to paying a set share of EU budgets after Britain has left the
bloc.            
    * BRITAIN-EU/IRELAND: Britain's intention to avoid a hard border between
Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit is inconsistent with its plan to
withdraw from the European Union's single market and customs union, a committee
of lawmakers said on Friday.            
    * OIL: U.S. oil held steady on Friday after OPEC and other major producers
agreed to extend production curbs in a widely expected move aimed at ending a
persistent glut in global supplies.            
    * GOLD: Gold on Friday steadied near a 3-1/2 week low touched in the
previous session, as investors opted for riskier assets amid a surge in U.S.
equities and expectations of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve later
this month.            
    * The UK blue chip index closed down 0.9 percent lower at 7,326.67 points on
Thursday, as it remained under pressure from a rising sterling buoyed by Brexit
talks optimism.            
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
            
    TODAY'S UK PAPERS
    > Financial Times                                
    > Other business headlines                       
 Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for:
 * 3000 Xtra    : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com
 * For Top News : http://topnews.reuters.com

 (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sunil Nair)