Today the oil and gas industry is going through a period of dramatic changes. Oil prices have achieved unprecedented highs over last 2 years. Industry commentators have begun to focus on the concept of “Peak Oil” and to speculate whether or not the World has reached that point yet. Politicians throughout industrialized and developing countries have begun to look at energy security as a key issue for the future. With its massive hydrocarbon potential and significant current production, Russia clearly has a key role as an “energy superpower”.

With this in mind, we at Deloitte decided to launch a survey of the condition of the Russian oil and gas industry as we approach the end of 2006. This exercise took the form of a questionnaire which was sent to a wide variety of senior executives at a range of oil and gas companies operating in the Russian market place. Our questions probed attitudes and expectations rather than dry statistics and our intention was to “take the temperature” of the industry. Our respondents represented a very wide range of public, private and state-owned companies, and not only small and medium sized upstream companies but also a cross-section of major Russian and international vertical integrated companies. You may find the survey results in the attached PDF file.

We thank all those who shared with us their insights into the future of the Russian oil and gas industry and wish them and our readers a prosperous 2007.