Proposed new US sanctions on Russia approved by the Senate could have “unintended consequences”, hitting US jobs and oil and gas projects around the world, the industry has warned.

"Russia is among the leading energy countries today. We see colossal unrealized potential for cooperation, for investment -- we will continue working on implementing it with all the interested parties," Novak said.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and other energy companies have joined President Donald Trump in expressing concerns over a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia, arguing that it could shut down oil and gas projects around the world that involve Russian partners.

Spain’s Repsol has agreed to establish a joint venture with Russian oil company Gazprom Neft, in the latest move by a European oil and gas company to deepen co-operation with Russia despite western sanctions targeting the country’s energy sector.

Qatar and Russia have long been rivals in global gas markets. Qatar's supplies came under the spotlight in the past month after Saudi Arabia cut economic and diplomatic ties, in a move ratcheting up a wider violent and diplomatic conflict in the Middle East.

Creditor banks to India's Essar Oil approved the acquisition of the company by a group including Russia's Rosneft, two sources familiar with the matter said, removing a key hurdle to the $12.9 billion deal that has been in the works for two years.

IMF - advancing decisively on the structural reform agenda to improve growth potential and rebalance growth towards non-commodity sectors.

Exxon Mobil is seeking permission from the U.S. government for approval to resume drilling around the Black Sea with a Russian partner, state-owned Rosneft, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The world’s largest listed oil company by output has spent the past four months trumpeting agreements to buy oil from Egypt, Libya and Iraqi Kurdistan, drilling exploration wells in southern Iraq and considering opportunities in Lebanon, as it chases deals to fuel its fledgling international expansion.

Rising oil production in the US, which Russia's energy ministry forecasts to grow by 400,000 b/d year on year in 2017, is being monitored, but it should not be considered separate from the global supply and demand balance, he said.

Now the human drama watch begins; will Putin cave in to the demands of the West to renounce his allies in exchange for the improved relation and the dropping of sanctions?

The European Union, although reliant on Russian oil and gas, says it will never recognize Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and expects the Kremlin to abide by the Minsk peace deal brokered for eastern Ukraine.

For every one dollar reduction in the price of oil, Russia suffers a staggering two billion dollar loss in its revenue. On top of the economic sanctions slapped on Russia following the annexation of Crimea, one may consider the record Russian oil production of 11.247 mbpd nothing short of a miracle.

Senior U.S. Republican and Democratic senators will introduce legislation on Tuesday seeking to impose a wide range of sanctions on Russia over its cyber activities and actions in Syria and Ukraine.

U.S. and European Union sanctions and a collapse in global oil prices have hurt the Russian economy and starved it of much-needed foreign investment.