But getting Saudi Arabia and the UAE to agree to pump more crude would require them to break a more-than-five-year partnership with Russia that has forged strong ties beyond oil — an uncertain prospect as they increasingly look eastward for political allies.

BGR meanwhile, has represented the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, and Uranium One, a mining company owned by the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Finance minister Shaukat Tarin told the Financial Times that a deal with Russia to build the multibillion-dollar Pakistan Stream pipeline “is almost done”.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson said Russia’s president Vladimir Putin knew when he launched his invasion of Ukraine that “the world would find it very hard to punish him” because he had “created an addiction” to Russian energy.

The previous government last year sent security questionnaires to three potential bidders – Westinghouse of the US, France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP – after state corporations from China and Russia were excluded on security grounds.

In 2021, Russia was the largest natural gas-exporting country in the world, the second-largest crude oil and condensates-exporting country after Saudi Arabia, and the third-largest coal-exporting country behind Indonesia and Australia.

The European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that the sanctions included "a far-reaching ban on new investment across the Russian energy sector".

"Russia's oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement shared by Russia's embassy in India late on Friday.

"We have good prospects and a common interest in continuing coordination on the global energy market, including within the framework of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow following talks with his Qatari counterpart.

"Russia remains a reliable supplier, a world-class guarantor of energy security. We value this reputation, but are ready for a harsh confrontation in the energy sector, if the need arises,"