Gazprom

The Russian gas giant Gazprom is a symbol of Russia's huge energy resources. This volume aims to improve understanding of the nature of Gazprom, the biggest commercial entity in Russia and the biggest energy supplier in Europe. Gazprom exerts a strong influence on European energy security and plays a crucial role in the international energy cooperation of Europe and Russia. This detailed case study of Gazprom explores motivation behind the company's foreign policies, it's strategies and tactics. It examines the challenges Gazprom faces in the European market and emphasizes the role of politics in Russsia's gas trade. The authors base their analysis on a broad view that goes beyond the scope of a textbook on energy economics covering efficient extraction paths and regimes of rational usage of energy resources. They offer a historical overview of this cooperation from the gas deals of the 1970s to the recent attempts to create an 'energy empire' and Gazprom's responses to challenges of the European gas market. The study covers a broad spectrum of issues, including Gazprom's attempts to penetrate end-user energy markets; political barriers to downstream investment; opportunities to capture new market niches in Europe; and obstacles to implementing Gazprom's new strategic plans. The main focus of this study is a conflict between the strategy of vertical integration adopted by Gazprom in early 2000's and the company's response to ongoing changes in European gas markets. Gazprom provides a critical analysis of Russia's energy industry, making it essential reading for specialists in the fields of international energy relations, energy economics, political science, and for those interested in the economic history of Russia. It will be of interest to those researching the development of Russian energy sector, issues of energy security and energy policy. For students of economics and political science at the undergraduate level the book will augment and complement the core materials in their courses on energy economics and geopolitics.