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Strategic Resources, Strategic Players: The Role of National versus International Oil Companies in Post-Soviet Eurasia

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Key Players and Regional Dynamics in Eurasia

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Abstract

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia all have ambitions to be leading energy suppliers and play key roles in international energy security. This makes the petroleum sector something more than just an important economic sector for them. Indeed, it plays a decisive role for their international standing. The international oil companies (IOCs) are important external players in these states because of the technology and the investments that they can provide. Today, however, we see an interesting process taking place in Kazakhstan and Russia, in which the role of the IOCs is being redefined and challenged as a result of more assertive policies from the host governments. The national oil and gas companies (NOCs) emerge as increasingly important actors in all three states, although in Azerbaijan, the role of the IOCs has not been challenged in the same way as in the other two. This chapter provides an account of the policy choices these three states have made with regard to balancing foreign involvement in petroleum development with national control of the region’s strategic resources. It analyses the dynamic processes involved in the way these states relate to their respective national petroleum companies at the expense of the role played by IOCs.

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Authors
  1. Heidi Kjœrnet
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations, University of Coimbra, Portugal

    Maria Raquel Freire (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department of International Studies, University of Miami, USA

    Roger E. Kanet (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2010 Heidi Kjœrnet

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Kjœrnet, H. (2010). Strategic Resources, Strategic Players: The Role of National versus International Oil Companies in Post-Soviet Eurasia. In: Freire, M.R., Kanet, R.E. (eds) Key Players and Regional Dynamics in Eurasia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230290754_13

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