Russia has signaled it may be starting to prepare for a permanent decline in crude oil demand over the long term, even after the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic are over. “The peak of consumption may have already passed,” Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev told Bloomberg in an interview. “The risk is rising in the longer term.” In that, Kolychev is far from alone. The view that oil consumption has already peaked or will peak much sooner than previously expected is fast approaching the status of a new industry consensus that will drive long-term investment decisions. In Russia’s case, these decisions are critical because oil revenues still make up a sizeable portion of GDP. At the moment, Kolychev told Bloomberg, the Finance Ministry is studying several scenarios for oil demand development over the long term, with different levels of demand decline, but he did not go into any […]