Global Market of Energy Resources: Main Development Trends and the Role of Russian Companies

The modern world is no longer divided into a capitalist and a socialist camp. Yet division itself is not gone. In the context of intensifying hunger for hydrocarbons, the division into the «Upstream World» and the «Downstream World» becomes increasingly obvious.

Nations that are the primary consumers of energy resources have too scanty reserves of oil and notably gas. And vice versa: nations possessing reserves are not in the lead as their consumers. As a result, these two worlds profess absolutely different strategies. The first spare no effort to gain access to reserves and the second to gain an end-user market share. Naturally enough, both processes continue on a very dramatic scale.

Western corporations are making active attempts at fighting the «resource nationalism» while Russian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American ones are struggling against «energy snobbery». Under way is aggressive struggle for assets where stakes are too high.

The Report offers an in-depth discussion of the following subjects:

• Foreign companies facing increasingly tougher working conditions in upstream as a global trend

  • A comparative analysis of the criteria for non-residents to gain access to upstream in Latin America, the Persian Gulf, Africa, and Central Asia

• Tax treatment in the industry

  • Future of concessions and production sharing agreement
  • Change of tendencies in the fiscal policy of reserve-rich countries

• Serious change of access to assets in the downstream segment for non-residents

  • Large-scale change of foreign investment legislation in the US, the European Union, and China
  • Comparative analysis

• Medium-term forecast of developments

The contents of the report: