ABSTRACT
The Mikhail Gorbachev administration has launched what seems to be a more comprehensive strategy for the petroleum industry. The extent to which problems with onshore petroleum production will make it necessary to consider offshore exploration and development is determined by two key factors. First is the declining reserves-to-production ratio. The second determining factor is the importance of petroleum production to export earnings. The areas with the best petroleum reserves are the areas that will receive the most attention in the Soviet Union's exploration and development plans. The Sea of Okhotsk has had a reasonable assessment of its reserve size due to the Soviet Union's cooperation with Japan. For the Soviet Union the issue is really one of how exploration and development of their offshore reserves differs from onshore exploration and development. Until 1974, offshore exploration and production had been treated much the same as onshore production by dropping large metal trestles at prospective sites.
