I think Russia could move into a truly dominant position IF it was willing to invest the manpower and technological resources necessary to develop and operate the most modern facilities available to transport the crude oil products of the Caucasus and the Crimea to the nations of the West (the European Union) and the Orient (China, etc.).  While the initial capital investment would be enormous, it's resultant benefits would be incalculable, since both Europe and China suffer from limited immediate oil resources.  And their control of those resources would put Russia in a geo-political position of energy control over the most industrialized nations on earth outside of the Western Hemisphere.    

(Note: Such an approach would merely be a repeat of the strategy used by Great Britain when the British Empire took control over the oilfields of the Middle East.)