RIA Novosti: Boomerang for Europe: Sanctions Imposed by Washington Don’t Affect Russia’s Energy Sphere

The US-imposed ban on the export of technology to Russia won’t be able to halt the development of Russian natural gas and offshore oil extraction projects, as Russian companies are already well-versed in import substitution. However, European companies will be affected by the “boomerang effect” of these sanctions.

Sanctions against Russia’s energy sphere limit the export of equipment for deep-sea drilling, shale oil extraction and the development of Arctic natural resource deposits. If these sanctions had been imposed on Russia a few years ago, the impact would’ve been quite considerable. Now, however, the sanctions will neither be able to affect Russian natural gas and offshore oil extraction projects, nor will they stop it from drilling for shale oil. The worst that could happen is a slight delay before these projects start operating at peak capacity.

In the Soviet Union, offshore extraction was in an embryonic state, mostly because there were plenty of land-based deposits that were easier to exploit. Soviet oil workers were operating at Caspian Sea deposits and on the sea shelf of Vietnam. Interestingly enough, while US geologists were unable to find any oil on South Vietnam’s sea shelf, the Soviet specialists managed to accomplish this feat in 1975.
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