Russia allowed its western rivals to impose sanctions and enabled its athletes to compete under the Olympic flag. And now Russia let the US lead the oil production industry. According to the Russian mass media, the US has been steadily increasing its crude output only because Russia does not mind it.
Of course, if the Russian government had set the task of catching up and surpassing America, the Russian oil industry would have easily achieved it. Besides, Russia is bound by certain obligations within the framework of the OPEC deal aimed at production cuts. Therefore, for now the US is competing with itself, of course, without any permission. Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak noted the countries do not compete who will be the first. According to him, Russia's main task is to satisfy its own needs for high-quality energy products.
However, according to the minister, global demand is steadily increasing, meaning that the countries will have to compete in any case. In general, Novak expects the consumption to grow by at least 30 percent by 2040. A similar point of view is shared by Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih. He even approved the growth of the crude production in the US, as global inventories are shrinking, and global markets are likely to experience difficulties with supply in the nearest future.
