Sechin Warns on Low Oil Prices
Igor Sechin, Russia's energy minister and reported author of the Kremlin's assault on YUKOS, is profiled by The Wall Street Journal.
In the interview, Sechin stated that Russia's resources "are a God-given good that should be used effectively. Somebody is always wanting to take them away." Russia, he added, wants to keep oil prices between $60 and $100 a barrel. To help ensure that, Moscow is considering building a reserve of crude to allow it to react to market shifts.
Widely considered the Kremlin's hard-liner-in-chief, Sechin is one of Russia's most powerful officials. He was a longtime aide and confidant to Vladimir Putin before Putin became president in 2000. Until recently, Sechin rarely spoke to the media, giving an aura of malevolent intrigue that was fueled by rivals who cast him as the author of the Kremlin's assault on YUKOS, among other things.
Sechin called for a gradual but major overhaul of the international oil trade, adding tight regulation and longer-term supply contracts, eliminating "economically unjustified intermediaries" and reducing speculation.
He hailed BP PLC's TNK-BP Ltd. joint venture in Russia as a sign of Russia's openness to foreign investment in the sector, but singled out secretive Siberian giant OAO Surgutneftegaz as "Russia's best private oil company."