Russia has all the chances to emerge “as the de facto leader of the major oil producing nations of the world, accounting for almost 73 percent of the global oil supply”; and in fact has already taken some of the required to do so, according to US-based oil expert Rakesh Upadhyay.

“Russia has played a master stroke in the current oil crisis by taking the lead in forming a new cartel, but it’s a move that could spell geopolitical disaster,” Upadhyay says in his article for OilPrice website.