Putin's Goal: Bankrupt the U.S. Shale Industry.

AuthorVerleger, Philip K., Jr.

The International Energy Agency's executive director, Fatih Birol, warned Russia and Saudi Arabia on March 9 that "playing Russian roulette in oil markets may well have grave consequences." He added, according to Reuters, that new U.S. shale development would stop if prices fell below $25 per barrel.

Hello, Fatih. You have just identified President Vladimir Putin's goal.

The Mueller report, along with many articles and books, has made it clear that Russia's President Putin wants to create as much chaos and discord as possible in the Western alliance and the U.S. economy. The coronavirus presents him with the ultimate opportunity to wreak havoc.

COVID-19's impact on the oil market gives Russia a way to respond to U.S. sanctions imposed on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline's construction and Russian trade with Venezuela, as well as to plans by U.S. oil companies to drill in the Russian Arctic. The global demand for oil has dropped precipitously. In response, Saudi Arabia proposed that OPEC members and the other producers that work with OPEC (OPEC+) cut production to maintain crude oil prices.

Russia and especially President Putin (who once wrote a dissertation on mineral economics)...

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