Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin badmouths those lousy Americans

On October 25, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin delivered a thoroughly anti-American speech at the Ninth Eurasian Economic Forum, arguing that sanctions have become “an outrage” and a “routine tool” in Washington’s non-economic and extra-legal competitive tactics.

Sechin also implied that U.S. sanctions might be part of a protectionist scheme to help local manufacturers. The United States has gotten used to playing the role of oil-market regulator, Sechin said, warning that Washington is now guided by vested interests. America was once the world’s economic engine, Sechin said, but it’s become the brakes today, and Washington only seeks the temporary and one-sided benefits of protectionism.

And there’s more: U.S. actions around the world are destabilizing other oil-producing countries and spreading uncertainty, Sechin said, before warning that this could raise the price of oil from its current “comfortable” level. Sechin also said people put too much hope in shale oil and electric cars, and he claimed that Russia will maintain its oil market dominance for another 15 years.