Shipping 110bn m³/yr would cost Gazprom a quarter of the amount it would spend if it used Nord Stream, while booking capacity for 70bn m³/yr would still cost it only a third as much.

What determines dependence on Russian gas is what buyers buy, and the market decides that. Gas follows the price.

For us it is a principal issue. Gazprom has launched a programme to optimise expenses in the central corridor which now has free capacities which also cost us money. We will hence liquidate 4,300 km of pipes and close 62 compressor stations.

Russia’s oil industry is “very resilient,” BP Plc CEO Bob Dudley said in St. Petersburg on Thursday. The nation’s resources are competitively priced and floating the currency has been helpful for costs, he said while announcing a new exploration joint-venture with Rosneft.

Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO, said after signing: “These agreements serve as an example of full scale cooperation with BP, Rosneft’s strategic partner and largest minority shareholder. After creation of the Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC joint venture we are now broadening the geography of our cooperation and creating a precedent which allows us to pursue cooperation in partnership with leading international companies to implement upstream projects at the largest Rosneft greenfield sites in West and East Siberia.”

Among the major shareholders of Yamal LNG are local gas producer Novatek (50.1%), Total (20%) and CNPC (20%). The Silk Road Fund has become the second Chinese strategic investor in the project, after China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) provided $5 B of investment for Yamal LNG. Under the terms of the agreement, the Silk Road Fund will provide approximately $800 MM for the implementation of the project over the next several years.

ONGC Videsh Ltd. signed a $1.16 billion nine-month bridge loan on May 19 to fund the purchase of a 15 percent stake in Vankor field in Siberia from Russia’s Rosneft OAO, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indian Oil Corp. plans a $1.2 billion fundraising for Russian investments in three or four months, including short- and long-term loans, Finance Director A.K. Sharma said in an interview on Wednesday. The average margin over benchmark rates on non-rupee loans for Indian refiners and explorers was 74 basis points this year, the lowest since 2006, the data show.

“There are still no fundamental factors for growth in oil prices,” Siluanov said. “We should plan our financial resources on that basis.”

In Q1 2016 net income was at RUB 14 bln. Decline of net income compared to RUB 53 bln in Q4 2015 resulted from EBITDA decrease and from recognition of one-offs from insurance compensation and sales of investments in the total amount of RUB 38 bln in other income at the end of 2015.

Nord Stream 2 will offer a secure, reliable connection to the world’s biggest gas reserves in Siberia, where investments from Russian and international energy companies over the last decades have ensured that the gas fields are amongst the most cost-effective sources from which to supply Europe. At the same time, Russian gas supplies are available and deliverable at short notice, making Russian piped gas the best option for Europe’s gas supply - economically and ecologically.