Russia and the U.S. will inevitably compete in the energy sector, George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, said before the elections on October 16, 2016.

“The U.S. and Russia will compete over both the European and Pacific gas markets. This is inevitable,” Mr. Papadopoulos said in an interview with Interfax when asked whether Europe should, in his view, lower its dependency on Russian energy resources.

Mr. Papadopoulos went on to recall that the “shale renaissance” turned the U.S. into a natural gas exporter and that the country is currently forecast to become the third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas by 2020.

“Both the Pacific and Europe are the premium markets in the world, where demand is growing (currently in the Pacific) and the diversification of sources and routes of energy has yet to be established,” he said.

“By locking in long-term contracts, Europe will have the luxury to renegotiate contracts away from oil-indexation, thus providing lower prices to the consumer and forcing both Gazprom and American companies to compete for the market share where supply and demand will drive the economics of projects,” Mr. Papadopoulos said.