"Russia is open" to investment and collaboration with U.S. companies in the oil and gas sectors, Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said.
Addressing an energy conference in Houston on March 6, Novak also said that the world's top oil producer still has "huge potential" for discovering new fields on its continental shelf, in its Arctic expanses, and in its vast shale deposits.
With oil fetching between $50 and $60 a barrel on world markets today, profit margins in Russia are "among the world's highest," he told executives.
Novak told the TASS news agency that he met with 13 "global funds" interested in investing in Russian oil and gas at the energy conference, though he did not name them.
He also credited Russia's agreement last year with OPEC to limit production for almost doubling oil prices from lows near $30 a barrel a year ago.
While Russia will continue working with OPEC, he said it has no plans to join the cartel.
"Our interaction with oil-exporting countries is necessary and helpful," he said.
