Brent were down $8.90, or 8.3%, to $98 a barrel, WTI was down $8.97, or 8.7%, to $94.04 a barrel.

In 2021, Russia was the largest natural gas-exporting country in the world, the second-largest crude oil and condensates-exporting country after Saudi Arabia, and the third-largest coal-exporting country behind Indonesia and Australia.

The European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that the sanctions included "a far-reaching ban on new investment across the Russian energy sector".

"Russia's oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement shared by Russia's embassy in India late on Friday.

"We have good prospects and a common interest in continuing coordination on the global energy market, including within the framework of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow following talks with his Qatari counterpart.

Azerbaijan is willing to increase its gas supply to Europe via Turkey amid persisting concerns over natural gas supplies after Russia's invasion of Ukraine,

Saudi Arabia's national oil company Saudi Aramco has taken the final investment decision (FID) to participate in the development of a 300,000 bbl/d refinery in the city of Panjin, in China’s Liaoning Province.

Saudi National Development Fund to inject SR570 billion ($152 billion) in the Kingdom’s economy by 2030

Japan also intends to work on renewables and nuclear power in a bid to further diversify its energy sources, as part of its response to the G7 joint statement, which calls for reducing Russian energy dependency in phases, Hagiuda said.

The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) has published the results of the latest tenders for onshore wind with a bidding date set for 1 February 2022.

Brent were last down by $3.81 or 3.4% at $108.86 a barrel, WTI eased $3.85 or 3.5% to $105.48 a barrel.

"Russia remains a reliable supplier, a world-class guarantor of energy security. We value this reputation, but are ready for a harsh confrontation in the energy sector, if the need arises,"

As it stands, Russia supplies some on average 1,600TWh of gas per year to Europe which represents 40% of Europe’s needs.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent

Renewable facilities added 23,639 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity last year with solar and wind providing 12,804-MW and 10,754-MW respectively.