Exxon Mobil Corp said spending will decline about 11 percent this year to around $34 billion due to plunging oil prices, according to a regulatory filing this week.

Russia is starting to see a wave of mass layoffs as a result of the plunging economy and needs to rethink where and how fast it spends its reserves, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said.

Russia to continue implementing Arctic oil and gas projects despite Western sanctions and low oil prices, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said

The European Union could significantly scale back sanctions and resume discussions with Russia on issues ranging from visa-free travel; cooperation with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union; and the crisis in Libya, Syria and Iraq; if Russian President Vladimir Putin moves to end the crisis in eastern Ukraine, according to an EU discussion paper.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), India’s biggest energy explorer, is banking on the world’s largest shale oil reserves to save its Russian acquisition. Stumbling blocks include oil prices at a five-year low and U.S. sanctions.

RWE is seeking to insert safeguards into a €5.1bn contract to sell North Sea gasfields to a Russian billionaire that would ensure the assets remain operational in the event of further sanctions.

BP Plc is in talks to buy a direct stake in an East Siberian oil producer from OAO Rosneft, the Russian oil producer facing U.S. and European financing bans, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced new Western sanctions against Ukraine's Crimea region on Saturday as a "collective punishment" on local residents who voted in a referendum last March to join Russia.

Russia urges EU to lift sanctions, promises to waive counter-measures

Even as Western sanctions over Ukraine bite, crashing oil prices are hitting Russia's economy and government finances.