Wheel of fortune : the battle for oil and power in Russia / Thane Gustafson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gustafson, Thane.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Petroleum industry and trade--Russia (Federation).

Petroleum industry and trade.

Petroleum industry and trade--Political aspects--Russia (Federation).

Petroleum industry and trade--Government policy--Russia (Federation).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (662 pages ) illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Russian oil industry-the world's largest producer and exporter, providing nearly 12 percent of the global supply-is facing mounting problems that could send shock waves through the Russian economy and worldwide. Wheel of Fortune provides an authoritative account of this vital industry from the last years of communism to its uncertain future. Tracking the interdependence among Russia's oil industry, politics, and economy, Thane Gustafson shows how the stakes extend beyond international energy security to include the potential threat of a destabilized Russia. Gustafson, a leading consultant and analyst of the politics of energy in the former Soviet Union, draws on interviews with key players over the course of two decades to provide a detailed history of the oil industry's evolution since the breakup of the Soviet Union. At its center is the complex and fraught relationship between the oil industry and the state, which loosened its grip under Yeltsin only to tighten it again under Putin. As oil becomes harder to find and more expensive to produce and deliver, Gustafson warns, Russia's growing dependence on revenue from oil exports, along with its inefficient and often-corrupt management of the industry, is unsustainable. A rich but troubled Soviet legacy, the conflicting ambitions of politicians and industry oligarchs, and the excesses of capitalism Russian-style threaten to lead Russia to an impasse. Involving the oil industry in the country's modernization agenda and remaking its relationship to the state, Gustafson argues, is Russia's best path toward a stable economy and a safer world.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Breakup: The Soviet Oil Industry Disintegrates

Chapter 2. Riding Chaos: The Battle for Ownership, Money, and Power

Chapter 3. The Birth of the Russian Majors: LUKoil, Surgutneftegaz, and Yukos

Chapter 4. Worlds in Collision: The Foreigners Arrive in Russia

Chapter 5. The Russian "Oil Miracle": 1999- 2004

Chapter 6. The Brothers from Saint Petersburg: The Origins of Putin's State Capitalism

Chapter 7. "Chudo" Meets "Russian Bear": The Yukos Affair

Chapter 8. Russia's Accidental Oil Champion: The Rise of Rosneft

Chapter 9. Krizis: The Rude Awakening of 2008- 2009 and the Russian Oil-Tax Dilemma

Chapter 10. Strong Thumbs, Weak Fingers: How the State Regulates the Oil Industry

Chapter 11. The Half- Raised Curtain: The Foreign Companies as Agents of Change

Chapter 12. Three Colors of Oil: The Coming Crisis of Oil Rents

Chapter 13. Looking Ahead: Oil and the Future of Russia; Russia and the Future of Oil

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674070790

0674070798

9780674068018

0674068017

OCLC:

816511806