U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared that the United States is fully capable of replacing Russia as China’s primary oil and gas supplier, should Beijing choose to cut ties with Moscow. Speaking to Bloomberg, Wright said, “Absolutely. Today the US produces 50 percent more oil than Russia or Saudi Arabia. That puts not only the US, but the entire world, in a better position.”
However, a report from Pravda casts serious doubt on the practicality of such a shift. The article notes that while U.S. oil production has reached record levels of 13.3 million barrels per day, the structural differences in energy exports make substitution unlikely. “Transitioning from one type of supply to another would require large-scale infrastructure investments—from building LNG terminals to developing new transportation corridors,” Pravda wrote.
The piece also highlights economic and political barriers, including higher transport costs to Asia and the instability of U.S. energy policy due to domestic politics. “Washington can proclaim its readiness to replace Moscow as much as it likes—but in the world of energy, words alone are never enough,” Pravda concluded.
The Bench Files 
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