Russian Oil: the Last Repartition

At the end of April the director of the National Security Fund and president of the Center for Current Politics in Russia published a new book entitled: Russian Oil: the Last Repartition. The research focuses on the relation between oil and politics in the Vladimir Putin’s epoch.

Konstantin Simonov dwells on the results of the first years of the Vladimir Putin’s presidency for the oil and gas industry. The «YUKOS affair», competition for the natural resource rent, mergers and acquisitions in the fuel industry: these issues have kept the entire Russian society on the tenterhooks.

The oil and gas industry is on the verge of a large repartition, behind which are the dominating power clans of the modern Russia. The struggle for property will inevitably affect the entire economics and political system of the country.

What future awaits the Russian oil and gas, who is behind the strike on YUKOS, how will the power clans share fuel assets – all these problems are in the focus of the book.

The book also studies western oil companies – it shows their role in the recent events in Russia, prospect of the operations in Russia, as well as the place of the Russian oil and gas industry in the big global oil game.

The contents of the book:

• Introduction

Chapter 1. Oil Business in Russia: from the epoch of Yeltsin to the Putin’s epoch

• The Epoch of Boris Yeltsin: Oil Kings are Born.
• The Epoch of Vladimir Putin: the Return of the State.
• The Clash of Different Views on the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry

Chapter 2. Operation YUKOS: the Big Repartition is Triggered

• The First Failures of the Siloviki Powerhouse.
• The “Reports’ War” and other “Theoretical Struggles”
• From Word to Action.
• The Moment of Truth for Russian Political Elite.
• “Oligarch” in Prisoner’s Robe.
• The Finale of the Struggle for YUKOS.
• Who’s Next?

Chapter 3. The Merger of Gazprom and Rosneft: on the Way to an Umbrella-Type Super Giant

• The Great Gas Project
• Reformist Triangle
• Fortification of the Gazprom’s Monopoly
• Gazprom + Rosneft = ?
• Competition for Eastern Siberia

Chapter 4. Global Repartition: Struggle for World Energy Markets and New Supply Routes

• The Failure of the Western Expansion
• Foreign Investors: Warning, Russia!
• Russian and OPEC: the Same as it Used to Be
• Energy Dialogues
• Energy Dialogue Between Russia and the European Union and the Problems of Hydrocarbon Transit to West Europe
• Energy Dialogue Between Russia and the USA: Dreams of the New Market
• Russian Between China and Japan: Competition for Oil and Gas Export Routes to South-East Asia

Chapter 5. Scenarios of the Oil and Gas Industry Development in Russia

• Scenario 1. The Triumph of Private Corporations
• Scenario 2. Energy Industry Sponsors Liberalization of Economy
• Scenario 3. Open Doors for the West
• Scenario 4. Heading for a State-Run Oil and Gas Corporation
• Scenarios of V.Putin