The world’s largest consumer of energy? China (the United States remains the largest consumer of energy per person, by quite a long way, but in absolute terms it’s China)
The world’s biggest producer of oil? No longer Saudi Arabia, and certainly not the United States – it’s Russia.
Until now, most Russian pipelines had transported oil westward towards Europe. Today, for the first time, oil starts flowing through pipes eastwards. The pipeline will supply China with 300,000 barrels of oil a day.
The balance of power has shifted.