MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Russia sees great potential for expanding the geography of its oil and gas exports; last year alone, it received more than 20 applications from various countries for the supply of oil, petroleum products and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak stated this in an article for the Energy Policy magazine.

"During the past year, more than 20 applications were received from various countries, primarily Asian ones, for the supply of oil, oil products and LNG. That is, there is a significant potential for expanding the geography of exports," he said.

Novak stressed that Asia will be the main consumer of energy resources in the next thirty years, and Russia has every chance to expand cooperation with the countries of the region.

"Over the next 30 years, at least, the Asia-Pacific market will become the main consumer of energy resources in the world, most of which will come from traditional energy sources," the Deputy Prime Minister believes.

According to Novak, a significant part of the calculations for the supply of energy resources now takes place in rubles, yuan and rupees.

"To strengthen the country's financial sovereignty, an accelerated transition to settlements in national currencies is of particular importance. Today, a significant part of settlements is carried out in rubles, yuan and rupees," he said.

The number of states that prefer national currencies is growing. "We see an increasing number of countries that are switching to settlements in national currencies with their partners," the Deputy Prime Minister stated.

Novak noted that already in May last year, oil supplies from Russia to Asian countries for the first time exceeded the volumes sent to Europe. In general, according to the results of 2022, oil exports to friendly countries from the Russian Federation increased by 76%, oil products - by 20%, gas - by 8% year-on-year. Last year, almost 40 million tons of oil and oil products were redirected from western markets to eastern ones and this year, according to the expectations of the Deputy Prime Minister, of 223 million tons of oil and oil products that were exported to the west only 87 million tons will remain, which is 40%.