Between Politics, Business, and Scientific Cooperation: US — USSR Interaction in the Oil and Gas Sector (1970s — Early 1980s)

The article is devoted to the oil and gas factor in the relations between the superpowers in the context of détente and during a new round of the Cold War. Based on published documents, personal sources, and materials from the Russian State Archive of Economics, the article examines the political, trade, economic, scientific, and technical aspects of interaction between the Soviet Union and the United States in the oil and gas sector. Using the example of the Tyumen gas project (“Northern Star”), it is shown that for a long time the Nixon administration could not develop its own clear attitude to large deals with the USSR in the energy sector. The author sees financial issues, rather than the obstructionist position of the American leadership, as the key factors in the failure of the “Northern Star”. The article also examines the change in the US position on oil and gas issues with the arrival of John Carter to the White House. Within the framework of the new approach, the USSR oil and gas industry was interpreted as a possible vulnerability that should be used in American interests, but the implementation of such a policy was inconsistent for a long time. The introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan determined the transition of the United States to the use of sanctions instruments in various subject areas, including the oil and gas sector, but the effectiveness of the restrictions imposed remained low due to the fact that the Soviet Union found markets for its raw materials and sources of supply of oil and gas equipment and technologies in other capitalist countries. Particular attention is paid to scientific and technical cooperation with American firms in the field of oil production. It is shown that the Soviet side sought not just to establish business ties based on commercial transactions, but to long-term cooperation, implying the joint development of new technical products and technologies. Due to the discrepancy between the target settings, scientific and technical contacts with the Americans were often interrupted at an early stage or limited to relatively simple forms of cooperation.