Russia has enough hydrocarbons for any country

Gasoline prices in the US are climbing fast. If last autumn they showed only insignificant growth, now following the events on the Middle East and in North Africa, many experts expect a serious hike.

Economists on both sides of the Atlantic expect that gasoline prices in the US and Europe will continue to grow. In the US gasoline price is now approaching $4 per gallon (or 95 cents per liter), which is the highest gasoline price since October of 2008.

The main reason for the gasoline price hikes is destabilization in the Arab Middle East. Though the US politicians keep on saying that the supplies of oil and gas to the US are quite diversified, the American economy stays vulnerable, the director of the independent National Energy Security Fund in Moscow Konstantin Simonov said in an interview with the “Voice of Russia”.

"The dependency of the US on oil imports is huge. As the largest importer of oil it leaves behind even China and Japan. As the world’s biggest economy the US needs enormous volumes of energy resources. The share of Libyan oil in the US supplies is small – only 3%. But the share of oil supplies from Saudi Arabia comes third, which is much more important. 

"Europe, which is the main consumer of Libyan oil, is also very concerned with the situation. According to experts, though OPEC says that it will fill the gap, soon Europe may have its oil refineries filled only by half."  

The conclusion is close at hand - both the US and Europe will have to look for new reliable oil suppliers. Russia’s oil pipeline projects in Europe, first of all the North and South Streams can help Europe to solve this problem. There have been options to ensure oil supplies to the US too, Simonov says.

Russia supplied oil to the US before, though its share was not significant. Let us not forget that we have launched oil supplies to the US from the Far East. Russia’s Far East supplies can compete with the Middle East supplies.

Russia is capable of ensuring oil supplies to all regions and it will be economically rational, Gennady Shmal, President of the Union of Oil and Gas  Producers of Russia, says.

"If it is necessary we can supply oil not only to the US but to any other part of the world. Our terminals can handle it. It has been proved in practice that if we speak about large consignments then sending a tanker with 100,000 tons capacity will be cost-effective."

In the near future the number of international contracts for the development of oil and gas fields in Russia may increase. Now the main foreign players on Russia’s oil market are Britain’s BP and US’ Exxon Mobil but other leading energy companies consider Russia as a promising partner too.

The Voice of Russia, March 1, 2011