The Ukraine War as an Oil and Gas Conflict: Who Stands to Gain
Geopolitics and Oil Markets When the Ukraine War began, Russia halted the flow of natural gas to Europe in retaliation for NATO’s support of Ukraine . Europe also stopped buying Russian oil. Russia began selling oil at much lower prices to India and China. These two countries took advantage of the situation and gained economic momentum through refining and exporting oil products. Now, Europe buys refined oil products such as petrol and diesel from India and China. Ironically, this is the same oil Russia sells to India and China. India and China find this trade lucrative, which has also impacted the oil trade in the Gulf countries . Suddenly, the Gulf countries find India and China turning into their competitors in the Asian market. Oil and expatriates had dominated the discourse between India and the Gulf region. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shifted the focus of these relationships to defense and security, as well as the possibility of forming a politically significant gl...