Russia’s Blockbuster Gas Deal Makes It Look Weak | TIME.com

Russia’s Blockbuster Gas Deal Makes It Look Weak | TIME.com:



"The politics of energy are getting ever more interesting following the signing of a historic 30 year gas deal between China and Russia. The deal has been portrayed as Putin’s revenge for Western sanctions imposed following the conflict in the Ukraine. He’s sending a message that Russia has other options aside from exporting its natural resources to Europe. (The U.S. is increasingly energy independent and doesn’t need Russian gas.) The photo-op of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Putin downing a shot of vodka following the deal close was classic.




But it’s not time to click glasses quite yet. In fact, I’d argue that the China deal makes Russia–and Putin–look weaker, not stronger. For starters, as a recent Capital Economics report on the topic points out, “while the headline figure of $400 billion seems large” given that it’s 20 percent of Russia’s current GDP, that take is spread out over 30 years. That means we’re talking about $13 billion in additional annual export revenues for Russia–less than a quarter of what they typically export to Europe. Selling to China isn’t going to mean that sanctions won’t hurt. Europe remains Russia’s most important energy market."



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