Review of the Soviet gas industry in 1989

Production of natural gas in the USSR increased by 26 billion cubic meters (3.4 percent) in 1989; output rose from 770 billion cubic meters (BCM) to 796 BCM. This was the smallest annual increment and the lowest rate of growth in more than a decade. Statistics of regional gas production are given for selected years from 1970 to 1989. Given the sample resource base and the strong performance of the Soviet gas industry in recent years, the cutback in the plan target and resulting relatively low rate of growth is surprising. Also, with the problems in the oil and coal sectors in 1989, one would have expected gas production to show an even greater increase to help offset the unplanned decline in oil and coal output. One factor for the gas industry's below-average performance was certainly the dislocations associated with the reorganization of the ministerial structure and the disruptions caused by certain other aspects of Gorbachev's reforms, but it also appears that the Soviet economy is experiencing increasing problems absorbing natural gas.