A market-oriented petroleum industry as a prerequisite to Russian economic security

The Russian petroleum industry is facing a critical juncture where expedient reform is necessary immediately. The main focus of this thesis is to account for the primary barriers which hamper the free flow of former Soviet petroleum into international markets and to suggest alternatives to current Russian energy policy. A secondary objective is to scrutinize the United States' foreign policy with respect to the possibility of influencing the augmentation of world petroleum supplies. Preliminary indications suggest that confidence-building measures have been slowly introduced by the Yeltsin administration, but the positive effects have not yet been felt by the petroleum industry. International investment within the Russian petroleum industry has been sluggish at best. Transnational oil companies continue to be reluctant to invest in Russia and the former Soviet Union due to political and economic uncertainty and the high risk of capital loss. The future of the Russian petroleum industry appears promising provided the major barriers (e.g., tax codes, presidential decrees, pipeline construction and maintenance, and capital investment) are directly confronted and not circumvented for political leverage or corrupt economic gains.