Gazprom's 10-year transit deal with Ukraine's Naftogaz expires on December 31 this year, with some in the European gas market becoming increasingly concerned that there could be disruption to Russian gas flows via Ukraine as a result.

The NWF currently stands at $59 billion and is expected to quadruple to over $200 billion, or 12% of gross domestic product, in 2021. Under the law, Russia may start to use the fund as soon as it reaches 7% of GDP.

Real GDP growth in Russia surpassed expectations in 2018, reaching 2.3 percent, mostly due to oneoff effects of energy construction. Forecasted growth of 1.2 percent in 2019 and 1.8 percent in 2020 and 2021 reflects a more modest outlook.

In all, OPEC's 14 members pumped 30.09 million b/d in May, a 170,000 b/d fall from April and the lowest since February 2015, before Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo joined and Qatar was still a member,

Even so, OPEC said it would tread cautiously. The organization forecast that 2019 oil consumption will rise 1.14 million b/d year-on-year, a downward revision of 70,000 b/d from last month's report, as "significant downside risks from escalating trade disputes spilling over to global demand growth remain."

Nord Stream 2, a 760-mile (1,225-km) pipeline project to ship gas from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany, would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline and has divided the European Union.

Gazprom's supplies to Hungary from January 1 through June 5, 2019, totaled 4.3 billion cubic meters of gas, a 57.5 per cent increase versus the same period of 2018.

It was pointed out that the French demand for Russian natural gas has been on the rise for the last four years.

Russia's Gazprom Neft said Thursday it and Shell have agreed to create a joint venture to develop fields in West Siberia with combined estimated reserves of 1.1 billion mt of oil.

Over the last decade Russia and China have significantly increased their energy links, with Russia ramping up supplies of crude and gas, and attracting Chinese investment into major new energy projects.