"Over the next five years we will do everything necessary to become truly energy independent: we will unite our power grids with the European ones, integrate into the European energy market, increase oil and gas production and create conditions for the development of alternative energy sources. Together with the energy saving program this will make our economy more efficient and will give impetus to the development of Ukraine," the head of state said during a meeting with the business community in Kyiv.

More than a third of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, and most of that goes through Ukraine’s Soviet-era pipelines. Ukraine has proposed that the European Union store as much as 4 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground storage facilities to guarantee security of supply for eastern European countries heavily reliant on Russian gas, pipeline operator Ukrtransgaz said this week.

Iran and Russia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on oil and gas cooperation which will bolster the two countries’ energy relations.

OPEC and 10 non-OPEC partners, led by Russia, agreed in December to cut a combined 1.2 million b/d of production in the first half of 2019.

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.