The U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Texas Governor Rick Perry told reporters at the CERAWeek Energy Conference (hosted by IHS Markit), which was held in Houston from March 11 to 15, that the United States does not rule out introducing new sanctions against Russia and other countries supporting the Maduro government in Venezuela.

In answering a question from a TASS reporter, Rick Perry first spoke fondly of his time in Russia and praised Smoke BBQ restaurant in St. Petersburg, which he visited on his prior trip. In what amounted to an advertisement of the Russian restaurant, the Energy Secretary said that the barbecue at Smoke BBQ was simply superb, suggesting that the owners must have traveled to Texas to learn how to make real barbecue.

Rick Perry was not mistaken. The owners of the St. Petersburg-based Smoke BBQ Bar & Grill on Rubinstein Street have been training in Texas for several months in order to master all the tricks of meat cooking. The restaurant utilizes equipment from Dallas, and serves steaks, sausage, hamburgers, and Texas barbecue. The average guest bill at the St. Petersburg establishment is 1,400 rubles without drinks.

Russia-related topics received considerable attention at IHS CERAWeek. The conference participants accorded special attention to the topic of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo focused on related issues during his address on the second day of the conference. Attendance at CERAWeek this year was record-high, as six and a half thousand people came together at Hilton Americas hotel in downtown Houston.

One of the Russian “heavyweights” of the oil industry at CERAWeek was Lukoil’s president Vagit Alekperov. In his speech in Houston, he said that despite the fact that sanctions against the Russian oil and gas sector had a negative impact on the work of Lukoil and the sector as a whole, Russia’s adaptation to the restrictive measures was possible primarily as a result of import substitution in technologies and equipment.

Mr. Alekperov stressed that five years ago the share of domestic equipment in Lukoil was 42 percent, whereas today it stands at 70 percent.