Energy policy of Russia and in a few cases explicit political demands are evident. Starting 1 January 2007 Gazprom increased the price of natural gas to Azerbaijan from US$110 to $235 per thousand cubic metres. (At the time, Gazprom charged the EU US$250.) Azerbaijan refused to pay this price and the gas supply to Azerbaijan stopped. On its side, Azerbaijan stopped oil exports to and via Russia. A year earlier, pro-Russian Armenia was hit with the same 100% price increase as Western-oriented Georgia, Vladimir Socor has observed. The Russia-Belarus energy dispute began when Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom demanded an increase in gas prices
Gazprom Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell signed in the presence of Putin and Mark Rutte prime minister of Netherlands a memorandum outlining the principles of cooperation within hydrocarbons exploration and development in the Arctic shelf and a section of the deep-water shelf. In 2008, Gazprom carried out of explorative well drilling; of 2D seismic and of 3D seismic survey. As a result, gas reserves grew by , and crude oil and gas condensate reserves grew by 61 million tons. Gazprom carries out prospecting and exploration in foreign countries such as India, Algeria, Venezuela, Vietnam,