Gazprom's accumulated after-tax dividends will total USD 6.9 billion by 2045. Over the next 25 years, gas deliveries via Nord Stream 2 would be 2–2.7 times more economically efficient than the ones via Ukraine's GTS, which translates into USD 45–78 billion.

What determines dependence on Russian gas is what buyers buy, and the market decides that. Gas follows the price.

For us it is a principal issue. Gazprom has launched a programme to optimise expenses in the central corridor which now has free capacities which also cost us money. We will hence liquidate 4,300 km of pipes and close 62 compressor stations.

Russia’s oil industry is “very resilient,” BP Plc CEO Bob Dudley said in St. Petersburg on Thursday. The nation’s resources are competitively priced and floating the currency has been helpful for costs, he said while announcing a new exploration joint-venture with Rosneft.

Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO, said after signing: “These agreements serve as an example of full scale cooperation with BP, Rosneft’s strategic partner and largest minority shareholder. After creation of the Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC joint venture we are now broadening the geography of our cooperation and creating a precedent which allows us to pursue cooperation in partnership with leading international companies to implement upstream projects at the largest Rosneft greenfield sites in West and East Siberia.”

The parties discussed relevant cooperation issues, placing an emphasis on planned gas supplies to China via the eastern and western routes, as well as the prospects of collaboration in the field of underground gas storage, gas-fired power generation, and natural gas vehicles.

Russia's Gazprom plans to export a record 165 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to Europe this year, the company's deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev told reporters on Thursday.

Russia plans to increase oil production to 540 million tonnes (10.8 million bpd) or more this year, from 534 million tonnes in 2015.

Socar President Rovnag Abdullaev disclosed last week that Azerbaijan was in the process of negotiating an agreement under which it would purchase 3-5bn m³/yr of gas from Gazprom.

The parties plan to examine further opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of hydrocarbon prospecting, exploration and development. Among the opportunities being considered are joint activities within new projects at licensed blocks on the shelf of Vietnam and in third countries.