Fuel and energy complex is not allowed: Putin announced the artificial breakdown of the energy architecture

The artificial breakdown of the energy architecture in the world is caused by aggressive pressure from Western elites: many European countries refused to buy Russian resources because of this. Vladimir Putin stated this on October 16 at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week. Russia has already redirected supplies to the countries of the global South — hydrocarbons go to the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and Latin America. Meanwhile, Europe's abandonment of Russian energy supplies has led to a decline in its industry and rising prices. Global oil demand has also increased this year, reaching 104.5 million barrels per day. By the end of the year, 510 million tons of oil will be produced in Russia, despite unfair competition, the country remains one of its leading producers. How Moscow coped with the disruption of the Nord Streams and which stations are produced only by the Russian Federation — in the Izvestia article.

The future of the Russian oil market

The Russian Energy Week is taking place in the Moscow Manege. Experts from all over the world gather here every year to talk about the development of the fuel and energy complex. This year, representatives of 85 countries are on the site: from government officials to representatives of the scientific community. The central point of the forum is Vladimir Putin's speech at the plenary session on October 16.

The president called the reconfiguration of global energy relations one of the main challenges.

— In many ways, it has an objective, natural character: new centers of economic development are just emerging, consumption is growing there, that's all. But we are also faced, of course, with an artificial breakdown of the energy architecture caused by the aggressive and very assertive actions of some Western elites," the head of state said.

The consequences of these actions are visible in the European Union: a drop in industrial turnover, rising prices due to more expensive overseas oil and gas, and a decrease in the competitiveness of goods and the economy. According to Eurostat, in July 2025, industrial production in the eurozone was 1.2% lower than in 2021. In Germany, this figure decreased by 6.6%. Against this background, energy resources are being redirected to developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and Latin America.

Global oil demand this year will amount to 104.5 million barrels per day, which is more than a million more than last year. Russia retains its position as one of the leading manufacturers, despite the use of unfair competition mechanisms against us. Moreover, the country provides about 10% of global production and expects to produce 510 million tons of oil by the end of the year. This is only 1% less than last year.

The Russian oil sector is operating steadily and continues to cooperate within OPEC+, where it is working together to balance the global market.

"Predictability in the oil market is probably the most important thing in this sector of the global economy," the head of state noted.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reported that compared with 2021, the share of friendly countries in oil exports has more than doubled to 94%, and if we talk about the Asia-Pacific region, it has increased from 40% to 81%. At the same time, the share of supplies to the EU has decreased from 44% to 19% since 2021. In 2024, one third of Russian gas exports were delivered to the Asia-Pacific region, which is more than 50 billion cubic meters of supplies via pipe and in the form of LNG (an increase of more than 1.5 times from the level of 2021).

According to Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of VMT Consult, despite the fact that Russia has long been called the "raw material appendage of Europe," today it is changing its export directions not so much in view of Western restrictions, but guided by objective economic reasons.

— I would like to remind you that the oil pipeline to China was built long before the collective West began to impose sanctions against us. Deliveries to China began 15 years ago. We already understood then that the demand for our energy resources in the rapidly growing Chinese economy would only grow. The same can now be said about regions such as Africa and Latin America. We have someone to offer our resources to," the expert emphasizes.

In addition, today India and China, despite tariff pressure from the United States, continue to purchase Russian energy resources. According to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2024, Russia exported an average of 7.6 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day, of which 3.5 million were destined mainly for India and China.

The day before, US President Donald Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him not to buy Russian oil anymore. But in response, the republic's Foreign Ministry stressed that the authorities will act in the interests of their consumers. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also accused the United States of economic coercion: Washington, demanding that countries stop buying Russian oil, is engaged in intimidation and undermining the rules of international trade, said department spokesman Lin Jian. He stressed that China's normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with countries around the world, including Russia, is "legitimate and lawful."

— By buying our oil and gas, the two most powerful powers primarily pursue their state interests, giving a decisive rebuff to any external interference. I am sure that in the future many countries will resist the hegemony of intimidation and tariff blackmail, welcoming the economy of mutually beneficial cooperation, including with Russia, a country with huge energy potential," Olga Orlova, head of the Industry department at the Institute of Oil and Gas Technologies, told Izvestia.

Prospects of the gas market and energy

As for the global gas market, its consumption is steadily growing in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Latin America, the president noted. Meanwhile, in Europe, gas demand is still below the level of 2019. Thus, the refusal of some countries in the region from Russian gas and the undermining of the Nord Streams initially cut Moscow off from traditional sales markets. But exports have already started to grow again, although the sector has not yet fully recovered, the Russian leader says.

— The demarche of the European Union has only accelerated the change in the vector of our supplies in favor of more promising, responsible buyers — states that know their interests and act rationally based on these national interests. Our gas companies provide these markets with reliable supplies, as we have always done in all areas before. Together with our partners, we are working to increase the export potential of the Russian gas industry, and we are talking not only about pipeline gas, but also about LNG supplies," Vladimir Putin said.

At the same time, domestic gas consumption is increasing: over the past five years, about 100,000 km of distribution networks have been laid. As a result, the gasification level is approaching 75%. The social gasification program is also continuing — in four years, almost 1 million households in Russia have gained access to pipeline gas.

The demand for electricity is also growing. The Russian energy system is still one of the largest in the world, Vladimir Putin recalled, and domestic generation facilities have a total installed capacity of almost 270 gigawatts.

However, there is still a local shortage of electricity in some areas, especially where large industrial, transport, and logistics projects are being built. It needs to be covered through the development of power grids, the renewal of the fleet of generating equipment, and the commissioning of new power plants. At the same time, the costs of energy companies should not be mechanically shifted to the tariff — that is, on the shoulders of consumers. The President instructed the government to present more flexible solutions to support the industry.

The Russian energy mix is still one of the "greenest" in the world: 87% is generated with a minimum or zero carbon footprint, Vladimir Putin recalled. We are talking about gas, nuclear generation, renewable energy sources and hydropower. For example, RusHydro builds hydroelectric power plants and water infrastructure, observing safety standards for the environment. Rosatom, another high—tech leader, also has solid experience, the president noted.

Russia is the only country in the world with expertise in the entire nuclear energy chain. Moreover, over the next decade and a half, the country is planning to commission more than 29 GW of nuclear power plants, including small nuclear power plants, which, by the way, are not being built by anyone except the Russian Federation. At the same time, nuclear power generation will appear in Siberia and the Far East, the president concluded.