Russia and the US should return to the dialogue on energy both countries enjoyed in 2014 before the US and European sanctions, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said, speaking to CNBC in Vienna.
"It's very pleasant for us that energy occupies first place on the new administration's program. We believe that for the industry as a whole this is good because the energy sector should develop and the fact that a large country, the largest country in economic terms, such as the USA will be developing its energy is overall a positive thing for the whole of the energy sector," he said.
Novak also welcomed Trump's appointment of Rex Tillerson, the former head of Exxon, as the next Secretary of State. "Rex Tillerson is a very famous energy industry specialist and I am certain that his actions will be positive, as a whole, for the industry"
During an interview, Novak said he hoped relations with the US would get better.
Sberbank CIB analyst Valery Nesterov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, said that an energy dialogue between the two countries in the first place should be devoted to macroeconomic topics. "First of all, the restoration of a normal economic and trade cooperation, lifting of sanctions, a return of American investments in Russia and the resumption of the projects of Russian companies in the US in the field of oil and gas industry," he said.
"The normalization of relations, in particular, should include efforts to attract foreign companies to the development of difficult-to-extract oil reserves in Russia, including deep-water shelves and the Arctic. The US and European companies are still interested in these areas. The US-Russian cooperation in other countries also should be discussed. I recall that Rosneft and Exxon have projects in East Africa, the development of partnerships in the Middle East is particularly important. In Iran, for example," Valery Nesterov noted.
"The negotiations to coordinate a position to ensure a reliable supply of energy resources to Europe is also possible. We've got a competitive relations on LNG, the US is very resistant to any program of expansion of Russia's presence in the European markets and the construction of new Russian gas pipelines. We should discuss it to make our relationship less confrontational, but mutually beneficial," Sberbank CIB analyst stressed.
An associate professor of the Graduate School of Corporate Management of RANEPA, Ivan Kapitonov, warned that we should not expect an early resumption of dialogue. "We can hope for a lifting of sanctions, but it is necessary to have a more realistic vision concerning our future. There is a strong political pressure on Trump in the US by forces, which support the sanctions. The Senate intends to pass a bill that would prevent the US president from lifting sanctions without its permission. Only depending on exactly when the sanctions are lifted, it will be possible to say to what extent we should cooperate with the US. Our energy and economy is quite successfully developing under the sanctions, we have found new partners, so Novak's statement should not be regarded as serious expectations," he believes.
Moreover, the new administration would restore a dialogue in the energy sector in the last turn. "The fact is that energy is Russia's strategic industry, on which we can greatly raise our economy. That is why lifting the sanctions on the energy sector is at the bottom of the priority, there is no doubt," Ivan Kapitonov concluded.
