Soviet Union: Oil Production in the Soviet Union

A file of correspondence and reports concerning the production of oil in the Soviet Union. The documents cover the discussions of the oil companies British Petroleum and Shell Oil with Soviet representatives on the potential for oil exploration in the Barents Sea; British suggestions for a joint Anglo-Soviet working group on oil and gas; and discussions on the dependence of the Soviet Union on Western technology for the development of its oil industry. Other documents in the file cover articles in the Soviet press on planned oil production in 1980 and for the duration of the current five-year plan; the sacking of a deputy oil minister for incompetence; and the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet agency responsible for oil exports. The file also includes responses to a Cabinet Office paper on the prospects for the Soviet oil industry; the conditions facing oil industry workers in West Siberia; and Soviet interest in the production of oil products from coal.