Sechin: sanctions against Russia threaten oil supplies to Europe

In the long term, sanctions against Russia endanger Europe’s security of energy supply, Russian oil major Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin wrote in an exclusive article for British daily the Financial Times.

Sechin gave the example of sanctions against Iran, which affected oil supplies and trade balances, TASS reports.

The head of Rosneft has also proposed a number of measures designed to help in the fight against speculation on oil prices. "First, financial players should no longer be allowed to have such a big influence on the price of oil," he said.

According to Sechin, the authorities should go further, ensuring that at least 10 or 15 per cent of oil trades involve actually delivering some physical oil. "At present, almost all oil trades are conducted by financial traders, who exchange nothing but electronic tokens or pieces of paper," he explains.

We also need international action to make exchanges more transparent and to prevent price manipulation, the CEO of Rosneft believes. Sharing market information, such as production and consumption volumes, prices and contract conditions, would make it harder for price distortions to persist. "We should make sure analysts at investment banks do not have hidden conflicts of interest," Sechin said.