The article analyzes the characteristics of the participation of Russia in oil and gas offshore projects in Vietnam. Energy cooperation is an important element of Russian-Vietnamese relations. Russia and Vietnam have been developing cooperation for realization of offshore projects for a long time and nowadays their interaction in this sphere has got new impulse. The participation of Russian companies in oil and gas offshore projects in Vietnam is supplemented by expansion of energy cooperation in other fields (including the establishment of joint Russian-Vietnamese ventures in the territory of Russia). At the same time in Vietnam Russia is facing rising rivalry of foreign companies in the South China Sea offshore projects.