Russian oil majors are expanding abroad from Iran and Saudi Arabia to Venezuela and Colombia as record revenues from high oil prices allow them to invest in reserves outside Russia.
"We want to help encourage co-operation between Russian firms and countries in equatorial Africa, especially with the regional leader Nigeria," the ministry quoted Russia's No 2 oil official Sergei Oganesyan as saying in a statement.
The statement said an intergovernmental commission had been set up in 2004 and its first concrete result was the signing this year of the first oil deal between Nigeria and Zarubezhneft to explore and develop two offshore blocks.
It did not specify the names of the blocks or other terms. A Zarubezhneft official said the company was talking with Nigerian authorities, but declined further comments.
Nigeria's oil sector is dominated by major multinational companies. Mid-sized Zarubezhneft has most of its operations offshore Vietnam where it produces around 230,000 barrels per day together with its partner, Vietnam's state oil firm Petrovietnam.
But as the joint venture's fields are maturing fast, output is set to decline sharply in the next decade and Zarubezhneft is forced to look for new assets around the world.
Zarubezhneft, or "Foreign Oil company", was the single most active oil contractor in the oil-for-food programme with Iraq, according to a highly critical report published last week by the UN-established Independent Inquiry Committee.
The report by the Committee led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said Zarubezhneft had paid $8.7 million in illegal surcharges for Iraqi oil, which undermined UN attempts to deprive Saddam Hussein's regime hard currency.
The company hit back, calling the Volcker investigation "a malevolent spasm of the Cold War era." It said the report contained many errors and no proof of wrongdoing by the company.