He stated that Saudi Arabia depends on oil revenues much more than Russia.
The collaboration of the countries in the OPEC deal was quite positive, but Russia is not going to reduce the volume of oil exploitation again because of the blackmail. That’s the opinion of Russian political scientist and journalist Mikhail Leontiev.
As he said, our oil sphere proved that it can exist under sanctions. Saudi Arabia has lower costs of extraction, but the difference is not too big. All their life depend on oil extraction, especially social and political, and that makes them more vulnerable. And Russia can stand this blackmail.
Leontiev is sure that the OPEC deal was positive for all countries, but suddenly Saudi Arabia decided to break the agreement. And it can be considered as blackmail and ultimatum. Moreover, the reasons of such behavior are still not clear.
Michail Leontiev strongly believes that Russia will make an agreement due to the blackmail. It is not the best way to achieve success.
The OPEC deal was created by Russia and Saudi Arabia and the other 24 countries in 2016 when the oil prices kept low for a long time. In 2017 it helped to raise the price for a barrel to 40 dollars. The agreement was prolonged several times for 4 years, but in March of 2020 the sides did not come to terms. And all the participants can extract it in any volumes they are able and desire.
Saudi Arabia decided to extract oil as much as possible to hijack the market.
