ABSTRACT
This literature review introduces the main published sources of information on the Russian oil industry in both Russian and English. The late-tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet periods are considered separately, followed by publications which provide an overview of the industry during all three periods. In Russian, Victor Ragozin wrote the first major survey of the Russian oil industry in 1884, charting its origins and development during the nineteenth century. In the post-Soviet period, the historians A. Igolkin and Yu. Gorzhaltsan wrote a useful work on the pre-revolutionary oil industry which highlighted the contribution to the development of the industry by Russian oilmen and engineers. In the early 1990s, the finance houses Bankers Trust and Daiwa Europe wrote an insightful report for the Russian government on the reform alternatives available in the industry. The economists Jennifer Considine and William Kerr have written a history of the Russian economy with reference to developments in the oil industry.
