Delyagin: Trump could strangle with oil quotas

Unable to influence prices, the new US administration may try to limit Russian oil exports with quotas.

State Duma deputy and economist Mikhail Delyagin announced this on the Aurora news agency channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.

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"The West has become convinced that it is impossible to limit the price of Russian oil, and they will try to impose quotas on it. I think that Trump will resort to this policy. And it will be painful, because it will allow the Americans to return to a meaningful dialogue with the Saudis and, in general, with oil exporters from the Persian Gulf: "Would you like to increase the volume of your oil exports without a fall in world prices?" How is that possible? "And we will limit the export of Russian oil with quotas."

This will not be a complete ban, quotas will vary flexibly depending on the needs of the global oil market and opportunities, but this will be [harmful] for us,” said Delyagin.

The presenter optimistically suggested that in this case it would be necessary to start refining oil, but the economist did not share this sentiment.

"It took Iran at least 10 years to start refining its oil. We have modernized the majority of our refineries, but this is a lot of work, and building new plants costs billions of dollars, it takes years. And most importantly, where to direct consumption? Because at current prices, we will soon be importing gasoline, not exporting it.

Under the current tax system, where crude oil exports are exempt from the fiscal burden, and the entire fiscal burden is transferred to domestic production, this is a completely colonial tax structure.

Without improving tax and customs policies, the country's development is impossible. And Trump, focusing on today's leaders of the Russian economy, clearly does not believe that they are capable of taking any meaningful actions. And it is difficult to blame him for this," the deputy explained.