Russia has promised to open more data on oil production, refining and exports, Reuters reports.
And all this happened amid a record increase in Russian budget revenues from oil in August-October (no information for November is available yet).
Simply put, the Middle East is not sure that Russia is playing fair with OPEC+ in terms of production cuts. Putin's visit is not a victory visit, but an explanatory one. Apparently, the meeting became possible only after Putin agreed to disclose information.
“On the other hand, this visit is a warning. The Arabs are explaining in their typical manner that we (the Arabs) should not be deceived. And motorcades and plots for churches are just entourage.”
As a result, the parties apparently agreed that some would show all the data, while others pretended that nothing had happened (although it is worth noting that Russia has pushed the Saudis out of first place in oil supplies to China, for example).
What do we get out of this? So far, it seems like nothing. But in the long run, given the Saudis' desire (albeit spoiled by our overly harsh position on Israel) to mediate in the conflict with Russia, this story could be very important for us. After all, the promises will be followed by Russia's inevitable lies, and its manipulation of statistics will be useful to us. We just need to be prepared for this and understand that the lies will be revealed in the next six months or so. That is why the Middle East vector is becoming one of the most important for us. The main thing is to be ready for the big game. And not to stand on the sidelines.
About the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.
The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.