Russia may postpone completion of a huge pipeline to bring gas from two new fields to China, three sources with direct knowledge of the plans of export firm Gazprom said, delaying one of President Vladimir Putin's signature projects.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is preparing to sell a dozen North Sea gasfields at the heart of a fierce row over ownership, in a move that would avert a high-profile legal battle with the UK government.

As the West tightened its grip on Russia with sanctions, particularly in energy, following the annexation of Crimea last year, the European Union is trying to expand its cooperation to counter Russia's dominant position in energy sector.

U.S. oil and gas major ExxonMobil has asked the Russian government to reimburse taxes worth "several billion roubles" it says it overpaid on a project in the far east of Russia.

Statoil ASA plans to drill four wells in Russia with state oil company OAO Rosneft, targeting heavy oil fields, showing Norway’s biggest energy producer is deepening its involvement in the country against the backdrop of international sanctions.

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman’s investment fund said Wednesday it sent a “detailed response” to U.K. government objections to its deal to take over offshore natural-gas fields amid a period of icy relations between Moscow and the West.

As most of Russia’s energy exports go to the European Union, both players are strongly interdependent. For Russia, energy resources, especially gas, are viewed as a tool to project power beyond its borders.

Ukraine is facing existential challenges, and energy security is one of them. The country is dependent on Russia supplying most of its natural gas as well as uranium fuel for its nuclear reactors. Under these very difficult circumstances, a government with a holistic view of its strategic security and energy goals would logically develop a policy aimed at encouraging increased domestic oil and gas production. Unfortunately, Kyiv is doing the opposite.

Moscow and Beijing will sign an agreement on the pipeline shipping gas from Western Siberia to China by the end of the year, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, adding that his government will intensify trade ties with Russia in the coming months.

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a bigger, high-risk bailout for Ukraine, giving Kiev immediate access to $5 billion of $17.5 billion in emergency IMF credit in another bid to keep the embattled country afloat.