The columnist recalled that the cessation of Russian oil imports does not mean that it will begin to accumulate in storage facilities.
“It simply means that Russian oil will find other buyers who will pay slightly less than what Russia would receive without sanctions,” Lifson writes.
At the same time, due to higher prices on the world market, there are discounts, while Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, “buys Russian oil at a discount” and uses it as fuel for electricity generation.
According to the journalist, the "charm of the situation" is that Saudi Arabia, which Biden "promised to make a pariah", can now sell to the world market the oil that it previously used to generate electricity, receiving more for it than Riyadh pays for oil from Russia.
Thus, Russia and Saudi Arabia benefit from higher oil prices, Lifson said.
“So who loses?
This is you, me, and oil consumers around the world, especially in countries that impose sanctions against Russia.
Sanctions are actually counterproductive and idiotic - like many of the Biden administration's foreign policy initiatives," he concluded.
On July 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, they discussed the situation on the global oil market.
The Wall Street Journal's Karen Elliott House wrote that US President Joe Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia last week "was more than shameful."