The Russian oil industry is facing mounting problems that could send shock waves through the Russian economy and worldwide. This book 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, the author shows how the stakes extend beyond international energy security to include the potential threat of a destabilized Russia. The author 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, Russia's growing dependence on revenue from oil exports, along with its inefficient and often-corrupt management of the industry, is unsustainable.

The breakup: the Soviet oil industry disintegrates -- Riding chaos: the battle for ownership, money, and power -- The birth of the Russian majors: LUKoil, Surgutneftegaz, and Yukos -- Worlds in collision: the foreigners arrive in Russia -- The Russian "oil miracle", 1999 -- 2004 -- The brothers from Saint Petersburg: the origins of Putin's state capitalism -- "Chudo" meets "Russian bear": the Yukos affair -- Russia's accidental oil champion: the rise of Rosneft -- Krizis: the rude reawakening of 2008 -- 2009 and the Russian oil tax dilemma -- Strong thumbs, weak fingers: how the state regulates the oil industry -- The half-raised curtain: the foreign companies as agents of change -- Three colors of oil: the coming crisis of oil rents -- Looking ahead: Oil and the future of Russial; Russia and the future of oil.