In case of high gasoline prices, the government may impose a ban on fuel exports

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Business FM on whether it is already necessary to impose restrictions on exports of gasoline and diesel fuel from Russia to balance the domestic market and what is the meaning of D. Trump's idea to temporarily remove Iranian oil exports from sanctions in the context of the US war with Iran:

— Russia is not the USA. In the United States, global oil prices directly affect retail prices at gas stations very quickly. In Russia, as in many other countries, the lion's share in the final price of gasoline and diesel fuel is made up of all kinds of official payments, that is, taxes and fees. The share of the actual raw materials, oil, is 15 percent. At the same time, there is still a damper mechanism in Russia, which purposefully protects the domestic market from sudden global fluctuations. Therefore, roughly speaking, no matter what prices or price dynamics there are for oil in the world, it does not directly affect the cost of petroleum products in Russia. But in any case, of course, all Russian oil companies have now increased their interest in increasing exports of gasoline and diesel fuel, as there is a shortage of both in many regional markets. Over the past few years, the Government has become accustomed to using the export restriction mechanism. To put it bluntly, it is not the most economically efficient, but at some moments it works and really helps.

— The United States may lift sanctions on Iranian oil in the sea, Bessent stated this. Does it turn out that the crisis has worsened so much?

— The crisis, of course, is severe, and Donald Trump himself is to blame for it. He clearly did not expect that everything would affect the main energy markets so quickly and to such an extent. Therefore, he is now looking for all the opportunities to somehow mitigate, somehow deflate the price bubble that is inflating every week in the oil and gas market. But permission to buy Iranian oil will not do much, because China was happy to buy it without any permits. The issue is the availability of this oil and its delivery. In other words, it is rather an anti-Chinese measure aimed at ensuring that India, not China, buys Iranian oil.