As noted by Alexey Miller, "since early 2017, China's gas demand has grown significantly; according to the latest data, in January-July alone gas consumption in China added 16 per cent compared to the same period of last year."

So the $9.1bn stumped up by CEFC China Energy this month for a 14.16 per cent stake in Russian oil producer Rosneft was a welcome surprise for those keen for China to become a big investor in Russia.

Chinese oil refineries are gearing up to receive more Russian oil transported through an expanded Siberian pipeline network from January, likely cementing Russia’s position as China’s largest oil supplier in a close race with Saudi Arabia.

Instead, with the planned referendum just days away, Russian state oil giant Rosneft announced its latest investment last week, to help Iraqi Kurdistan develop its natural gas industry, for domestic supplies and eventual export.

Gazprom Neft has shipped its second and largest cargo of Iraqi crude to the US since the Badra field, its flagship overseas oil project, came on stream in 2014, the Russian oil company said Tuesday.

“The principal risk regarding Russian and Chinese activities in Venezuela in the near term is that they will exploit the unfolding crisis, including the effect of US sanctions, to deepen their control over Venezuela’s resources, and their [financial] leverage over the country as an anti-US political and military partner,” observed R. Evan Ellis, a senior associate in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Americas Program.

Gazprom Export LLC and the Croatian Prvo plinarsko društvo d.o.o. signed a long-term contract on natural gas supplies for the period from 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2027. The annual supply volume within the contract amounts to 1 billion cubic meters, and 0.25 bcm is to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Emmanuel Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources, told the Financial Times that the west African nation’s energy sector was still suffering from years of violent disruptions and needed more “recovery time” before joining a supply deal agreed last year between some of the world’s biggest oil producers.

CEFC China Energy is set to take a stake of almost $9bn in Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, in a major strengthening of energy ties between Beijing and Moscow as relations deteriorate with the west.

“There was a request from our colleagues in Venezuela to carry out a restructuring,” Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said. “There are difficulties in fulfilling the debt.”