Mikhail Krutikhin: There Is No Economic Logic To Trump's Decision

The diesel fuel that Russia plans to supply to the U.S. in October will last 1.5 days.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Russia on the supply of Russian diesel fuel. Why does Washington need this, and does such a decision make economic sense?

On the sidelines of the Free Russia Forum, which took place in Warsaw on October 11, a correspondent for the Charter97.org website spoke with renowned Russian energy expert Mikhail Krutikhin.

— There is absolutely no economic logic to Trump’s decision. The U.S. president doesn’t need this diesel from Russia; he exports it himself. This is, of course, politics. He couldn’t care less whether oil refineries in Russia shut down. Trump represents a country that produces oil, exports it, and strives to dominate the market.

Why would he want Russian competitors? He instigated a war in the Persian Gulf to isolate Arab competitors so they would supply less oil. Trump has partially achieved his goal. And in Russia, will he encourage Russian oil production without the involvement of American companies? No, that’s not his goal. So this is purely politics.

— How long will the diesel supplies that Russia plans to deliver to the U.S. last?

— What they plan to deliver in October amounts to about one and a half days’ worth of consumption.

— At the Belarusian “Naftan” scheduled maintenance is beginning. Fuel shipments to Russia will, of course, decline. How will this affect the Russian market?

— The two Belarusian refineries—Mozyr and Novopolotsk—could theoretically receive up to 20 million metric tons of crude oil per year from Russia. 5 million metric tons is what the country needs for domestic consumption, and the rest—a maximum of 13 million metric tons—they can refine and send these petroleum products to Russia.

What does 13 million metric tons of refining capacity amount to? That’s equivalent to one Russian refinery. Yes, these shipments help Putin’s regime, but they don’t solve the problem.

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