The Russian Oil and Gas Industry: International Joint Ventures and Local Companies

Russia is the world’s largest producer of both oil and gas, with very significant reserves. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the exploitation of oil and gas has taken place mainly in existing Soviet legacy fields, where established, relatively simple technologies were sufficient. This enabled the Russian state and local Russian entrepreneurs to be major players in the oil and gas industry, making use of international oil and gas companies and their expertise, but not wholly reliant on international companies. As the position is now changing, with Soviet legacy fields coming to the end of their lives, and with a growing need for more difficult fields to be exploited, requiring more advanced technology, the role of international companies is likely to be greater in future. This book examines the development of the Russian oil and gas industry over recent decades, showing how, in a series of in-depth case studies of previous international company involvement, international companies should in future cope with the business environment, how they should acquire local knowledge, deal with the state, and forge partnerships with domestic companies, but only to a limited extent.