Russian oil: Between a rock and a hard place One of Russia’s most powerful men stood on stage at New York’s St Regis Hotel with a conciliatory message for America. “The relationship between the US and Russia has been severely hampered by historical stereotypes,” said Igor Sechin, a former Soviet intelligence officer and now the dominant force in the Russian energy industry. “But we have long ceased to be adversaries. It is time for us to become strategic partners.” It was April 2012. With those words, Mr Sechin signed a wide-ranging partnership between Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, and ExxonMobil – in the process throwing open the doors of Russia’s vast oil wealth to the western energy industry. Today, the partnership envisaged by Mr Sechin, Rosneft chief executive, is in tatters. Under pressure of western sanctions, Exxon has frozen all 10 of its joint ventures with Rosneft, […]