Public Policy This is part two of a condensed and lightly edited transcript of an interview with Soviet and Russian energy specialist Thane Gustafson. In part one, he described the evolution of the Russian energy industry under President Vladimir Putin until the eve of the war in Ukraine. Part two picks up with him describing the impact of the war on Russia’s oil industry. Denning: You say Putin’s war has set in motion a process that will drag down the long-term competitiveness of Russia’s oil industry. How so? Gustafson: The big question is the long range effects, beginning about five years out. How the withdrawal of the services companies; the interruption of supply lines, of equipment; the exit of the Western majors; and the financial difficulties that the Russian government is going to have — all of those are going to act as drags on the ability of the […]