>So, no doubt, is Putin
I'm not too sure I accept this. A lot of the stats that depict the US as oil starved are a function of SEC regulations. If it's not economically viable to extract oil, your reserves sort of don't exist. The dearer the price of a barrel, by convention, the more XOM and COP have.
It was great to have been in a Russia fund the past two years, but if prices run up hugely Russia will find itself cut out. There's an already zany overestimation of their risk profile. Twin that with a similarly zany faith in Alberta tar sands and other nonconventional resources and you could see a stall in Russia's resurgence.
But you never know.
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