There are rather contradictory developments in the Russian oil and gas industry. However, this is not surprising: the role this sector is to play in the current and most importantly in the future structure of the Russian economy has not been finally defined yet. On one side, on the eve of the elections the oil and gas sector traditionally has to play the role of a cash cow. On the other side, the danger of decline in production is becoming more than real and tax incentives for investments in green fields are becoming more important.
Besides, there are active preparations for the introduction of changes in the legislative framework of the Russian oil and gas sector. A new bill on oil is to be soon submitted to the State Duma; the document is to become almost a new oil constitution. The struggle of main clans around these issues is obviously getting tougher, especially taking into account the unavoidable transformation of the political system after the elections. Everybody is rushing to create new instruments to preserve and even increase influence after the elections regardless of who will become the president and how the future government composition will look like.
The new report of the National Energy Security Fund provides a detailed analysis of the following aspects: