There is no reason not to suspect that price disputes are occurring at the same time that Russia's production is falling--in fact the two would probably go together. They have already admitted to lower exports. The only question is whether lower production this year will accelerate the decline in exports.

The inevitable decline in fossil fuel production is driving most of the current tension and is going to lead to much more in the near future. Judging by the current MSM (not just western) propaganda the true source of the conflicts will never be identified. I think the powers that be got caught by surprise with the pace of resource depletion. They were trapped into the same trance as the rest of the population by the endless repetition of "there are decades of oil and gas left" mantra for the last 40 years.

Worth repeating...

"They were trapped into the same trance as the rest of the population ..."