2nd is Saudi Arabia then Russia. However it happens that US is also the largest consumer and their production doesn't meet the demand so they have to import from other countries like Canada and Saudi Arabia
So Saudi Arabia most definitely does have a lever, and so does Russia since the rest of the world including US allies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, NATO countries depend on their lovely black gold to have functioning economies.
I want to add that even if the US produced more oil, we currently don't have enough industrial refining capacity for the type of crude that we produce to meet our demand, so we would still need to rely on foreign imports.
> [...] so does Russia since the rest of the world including US allies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, NATO countries depend on their lovely black gold to have functioning economies.
Have you been following the news for the past two years? Russia's sanctioned up the wazoo. No NATO country is buying Russian oil. India is now their number one costumer.
There is truth in that Europe isn’t buying directly from Russia. However plenty are buying from countries are buying refined oil products from India (and possibly others) where the source is Russian crude oil.
If the US was like Saudi Arabia where they exported half of their oil, and could supply most of the world at competitive prices, Russia would have really felt the Sanctions.
But right now Russia doesn’t feel the Sanctions. They’re more isolated and Putin’s propaganda has somewhat worked at making the general population anti-west and support the Ukraine invasion.
2nd is Saudi Arabia then Russia. However it happens that US is also the largest consumer and their production doesn't meet the demand so they have to import from other countries like Canada and Saudi Arabia
So Saudi Arabia most definitely does have a lever, and so does Russia since the rest of the world including US allies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, NATO countries depend on their lovely black gold to have functioning economies.