The Russian Gas Matrix: How Markets are Driving Change.

AuthorSemikolenova, Yadviga

The Russian Gas Matrix: How Markets are Driving Change edited by JAMES HENDERSON and SIMON PIRANI (Oxford Institute for Energy Studies; Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 2014), 444 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-870645-8, Hardcover.

The book looks at the evolution of the Russian gas sector since 2008 and analyses the drivers behind the changes in the sector. It also offers hypothesis of how the sector will develop in the future.

The book argues that Russian gas balance should be viewed as a matrix: with major markets for Russian gas on one side (European, domestic, CIS and Asian) and major sources of gas in Russia on the other (Gazprom, non-Gazprom and Central Asian and Caspian suppliers). This matrix is not static, but dynamic: changes in one of its elements influence the changes in the other components, both on the supply and demand side; these changes shape the development of the Russian gas sector. The authors caution that Russian gas balance cannot be viewed in the context of a single component (for example, exports to Europe or CIS countries, as it is sometimes done), but put in a complex paradigm of changing market conditions and availability of supplies. The book shows that all the inter-linked elements of the matrix have been changing rapidly over the past 5-6 years; this fast-paced evolution of markets and sources of gas has prompted Russian corporate and governmental responses that keep determining the Russian gas sector development.

The book is well structured and a great read. It offers much food for thought for those who are familiar with the subject and those who want to learn about the complex paradigm of Russian gas. The book offers deep, but not overly complicated, analysis of the Russian gas sector development and gives a glimpse to its future. One of the advantages of the book is that the chapters could be read in sequence or separately, since each of them tells a complete, well-rounded story. Yet, all the chapters fit well together to show a full, complex picture of the ever-changing balance in the Russian gas sector.

The book is organized in four parts. Part I (Political Economy of Russian Gas) sets up the analytical framework for the book. Chapter 1, "The Political and Economic Importance of Gas in Russia," by Tatiana Mitrova, presents a very full, but concise, overview of Russian gas sector and its place in Russian economy. It discusses the role of gas in Russian domestic and foreign policy; describes the sector's...

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