“…The oil and gas business is a classic sample of positive economies of scale (decreasing average costs caused by increasing output). Therefore, in most countries, especially those with significant resources, large (often the only) enterprises were formed and consolidated production, transportation, and refinery assets [Karpova, 2016].This, in combination with substantial fiscal dependency on oil and gas industries, leads to a blurring of lines between state and corporate interests in this sphere and makes some international organizations (primarily the WTO) unable to moderate interactions among business entities, perceived inter alia as state agents [Lavrov, Aleksanyan, 2017;Lavrov, Simonov, 2021]. The demand-side situation is rather similar: energy security underlies not only economic power, but also provides for basic necessities of households.…”