Putin’s anti-western oil alliance is coming unstuck

As Russia frantically attempts to hold on to its territorial gains in the face of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, there are early signs that it is also failing to retain its diplomatic and foreign policy advances. The anti-Western energy alliances it had constructed around the world with many of the leading oil and gas producers, which had endured despite the invasion, are beginning to fracture. Its attempts to shutdown competitors to Russian oil and gas have proved futile.

It all went wrong so quickly for Russia. Back in 2016, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expanded to include Russia as part of OPEC+. The deal, painstakingly brokered by Saudi Arabia, was seen as a personal victory for de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS). There was much talk of a ‘a new oil bromance’ between MBS and Vladimir Putin.

After Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, OPEC+ has seemed totally in hoc to Russian policy priorities.