Profit attributable to owners of PJSC Gazprom for the year ended December 31, 2015 totaled RUB 787,056 million which is RUB 628,052 million, or 5 times more than for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The parties focused, inter alia, on the exploration activities in blocks 112 and 129–132 and the joint development of the Moc Tinh and Hai Thach fields. It was noted that the construction of 12 production wells, three production platforms, a floating hydrocarbon storage terminal, and a submarine pipeline system had been completed at these fields. The total accumulated production from the Moc Tinh and Hai Thach fields since its launch in 2013 has now reached 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.1 million tons of gas condensate.

Rosneft appreciates the prospects of cooperation with Pertamina, which will provide an additional channel for Rosneft to supply its high-margin products to one of the fastest growing economies in the region (4.79% GDP growth in 2015). The Republic of Indonesia, with a population of 254 million people, is the largest Asian-Pacific net importer of motor fuels and petrochemicals. Petroleum products, produced from Russian crude, are supplied to Indonesia primarily from South Korea and Singapore. It is crucial for Rosneft to arrange direct shipments of hydrocarbons, which will increase the economic efficiency of oil refining in Indonesia.

The Company’s Normalized EBITDA, including our respective share in the EBITDA of joint ventures, amounted to RR 62.1 billion, representing a 13.3% increase compared to the EBITDA for the first quarter 2015. Profit attributable to NOVATEK shareholders increased by 3.7 times to RR 115.9 billion, as compared to RR 31.1 billion in the first quarter 2015.

Putin's interest in Israeli gas is neither secret nor new. In 2012 Russia's Gazprom discussed the possible purchase of a 30% stake in Israel's offshore Leviathan gas field. In 2013 Gazprom signed a contract to purchase much of the Tamar gas field's production but the contract wasn’t approved by Israel's Energy Ministry.

Russia has been developing new pipeline projects such as South Stream, Turk Stream and Nord Stream 2. If one of them were to be realized then transit risk stemming from Ukraine would be severely minimized and Moscow would have important strategic leverage.

Within unstable market conditions Rosneft proceeds looking for new sources of increase of the Company’s capitalization, boosting the efficiency of the investment program and its operations. This will inevitably relate to the operations of the central administrative office – we have set a goal to cut its staff size by 20% relative to the level of 01.01.2016.

Russia's largest independent gas producer Novatek plans to raise further $12bn in external financing for the Yamal LNG project, said Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson.

“With this rule, the Russian government is trying to break the vicious dependence of the economy on oil via the ruble. What’s changing is that the Russian government is signaling to the market participants that the ruble will be more predictable to spur investments into the economy.”

Now the two sides, buyer and seller, will have to make do without the safety-net the contracts offered: high gas demand translates into high gas prices for the customers, while indexation to low oil prices would have deprived Gazprom of the upside of a temporary supply glitch or a prolonged cold winter.

"Everybody is trying to get a big stake in India--it is the biggest growing market in Asia," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects.

“We remain committed to our strategic investment in Rosneft,” Scott Dean, a company spokesman, said by e-mail, adding that BP complies with all relevant European and U.S. sanctions. “In the low oil-price environment, Rosneft continues to deliver solid operational and financial performance, demonstrating the resilience of its business model.”

“The oil price is growing. I think everyone is expecting the successful outcome of our work,” Mr Sechin said. “We will need higher price levels than $45 or even $50 a barrel.”

OAO Yamal LNG (“Yamal LNG”) announced the signing of an agreement with Sberbank and Gazprombank on a 15-year credit line facility for the total amount of EUR 3.6 billion at EURIBOR 6M plus 4.7% annual interest rate. The agreement signed with the Russian banks is part of the project financing package for Yamal LNG.

Lissik responded that on the contrary, Nord Stream 2 did not enter the EU internal market, and that Russia was not banned from trading with the EU. Economic exchange with Russia was continuing, and it is unfair to project political views and to focus on conflict when discussing Nord Stream 2. “We are trying to depoliticise the project. Its only target is to have a business case,” he said. “This is not the Kremlin.”