Technology and Soviet Energy Availability

Endowed with abundant energy resources, the Soviet Union is the world’s largest oil producer and a major exporter of both oil and gas. Energy exports provide over half of Soviet hard-currency receipts, and subsidized energy sales to Eastern Europe are vital tools of Soviet influence in that region. Despite this enviable position, there have been indications in the past few years that the U.S.S.R. may soon face an energy shortage. In addition to examining the significance of U.S. petroleum equipment and technology for Soviet energy development, this book addresses the following questions: First, what opportunities and problems confront the U.S.S.R. in its five primary energy industries-oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and electric power-and what are plausible prospects for these industries in the present decade? Second, what equipment and technology are most needed by the U.S.S.R. in these areas, how much of each has been or is likely to be purchased from the West, and to what extent is the United States the sole or preferred supplier? Third, and perhaps most critical, how much difference could the West as a whole or the United States alone make to Soviet energy availability by 1990, and what are the implications of either providing or withholding such assistance for both the entire Soviet bloc and for the West?