MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Sanctions of Western companies have turned into a tool for economic blackmail in the world energy sector, which leads to polarization of the world, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak wrote in his op-ed for the Energy Policy magazine.

"Sanctions turned into the tool of economic blackmail, which lead to polarization of the world, duplication of technologies and reformatting of trade flows," Novak said.

"US sanctions against individual Russian oil companies became an additional destabilizing factor for the global oil market. Attempts to limit the circle of Russian oil importers inevitably lead to disruption of stability of international energy resource supplies and strengthen global volatility in energy markets," Novak added.

The US Treasury announced restrictions against Rosneft and Lukoil on October 22 of the last year.