Forbes: A Six Point Plan For Putin Hydrocarbon Heaven

Things used to be easy for President Putin in the 2000s. Oil and gas was on the up, hitting historically nominal highs in 2008. In a world of ‘petro-state paradise’, Russia was a key beneficiary. Serious upstream investment wasn’t needed to meet demand; the Kremlin could sweat assets, maintain production (and prices), all while playing politics with the energy sector to divide, and ultimately rule. A raft of Western oil majors got shanked, being chopped out production sharing agreements. It was literally a case of sit back and watch the petro-cash roll in. But this old ‘Putin 1.0’ formula will find things very difficult in an ‘energy 2.0 future’. Things have changed, and radically so for Russia: If the President wants to survive – let alone prosper towards 2018 – he’s going to have to make fundamental energy changes. Six thoughts come to mind.  MORE