Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin left his prestigious chairman post at oil major Rosneft on April 11.

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They included Igor Sechin, chairman of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company, and one of Mr Putin's most trusted deputy prime ministers, in charge of energy.

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Sechin is chairman of the board of Russian oil major Rosneft.

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But all things considered, any scenarios left on the table all point in one direction: The Russian state is back, and Sechin is bigger than ever.

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Long forgotten now, it was only in September 2008 when Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin was dispatched to OPEC meetings to try and strike bilateral agreements with cartel members when prices plummeted.

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Purported diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks suggest that Igor Sechin, the deputy prime minister and chairman of Rosneft, BP's new partner, was co-operating with Alfa (Mr Fridman's firm) and played a part in Mr Dudley's ouster.

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In February, the heads of China's three state-controlled oil and gas majors -- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) -- met one of Russia's most influential players in the energy sector, Igor Sechin, chief executive of state-owned oil company Rosneft.

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