Oil and Gas Production in the Russian Sector of the Caspian Sea: Public Opinion on Development Paths and Consequences

Abstract

This article considers public opinion in the republic of Dagestan on the expansion of hydrocarbon production in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. The article reports the findings of a survey (N = 956) conducted in 2010 in fourteen rural locations in the republic. Overall, respondents uniformly oppose the proposed expansion of offshore oil and gas production in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea, seeing little economic benefit from this development and expressing concern about the environmental consequences. These findings resonate with work in geography on resource peripheries and development alternatives available in these locations.

本文考量达吉斯坦共和国中, 公众对于在裏海的俄罗斯区段进行碳氢化合物生产的意见。本文报导一个在2010年于共和国内十四座郊区地点进行的调查 (样本数为九百五十六) 之发现。总体而言, 受调者一致反对在裏海的俄罗斯区段扩张离岸石油与天然气生产的提案, 认为能从此开发中获得的经济利益极少, 并表达出对环境后果的担忧。这些发现, 与地理学对资源边陲地及这些地点可进行的另类发展之研究相互呼应。

Este artículo examina la opinión pública de la república del Daguestán en relación con el incremento de la producción de hidrocarburos en el sector ruso del Mar Caspio. El artículo informa sobre los hallazgos de un estudio de campo (N = 956) llevado a cabo en 2010 en catorce localidades rurales de esa república. En general, los entrevistados uniformemente se oponen a la expansión propuesta de producción de petróleo y gas dentro del mar en el sector ruso del Caspio, viendo poco beneficio económico derivado de este desarrollo y manifestando preocupación por las consecuencias ambientales. Estos hallazgos resuenan en el trabajo geográfico sobre recursos de la periferia y alternativas de desarrollo disponibles en esta región.

Key Words:

• Caspian Sea
• environment
• oil and gas production
• public opinion survey
• Russia

关键词:

• 裏海
• 环境
• 石油与天然气生产
• 公众意见调查
• 俄罗斯。

Palabras clave:

• Mar Caspio
• medio ambiente
• producción de petróleo y gas
• estudio sobre la opinión pública
• Rusia

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the article's two anonymous reviewers, as well as Amelie Davis, John O’Loughlin, and Barney Warf for helpful comments at various stages of revision. The inestimable Nancy Thorwardson prepared Figure 1 for publication.

Notes

Of secondary interest is the fact that LUKoil has used its Caspian Sea sites to enhance its offshore production; this experience could be applied to offshore production in the Arctic, which is still in the developing stages (Gustafson 2012).

The Filanovskiy field is one of a limited set of fields of significance discovered in the mid-2000s (Kjärstad and Johnsson 2009).

There are parallels between this sampling procedure and snowball sampling, which is commonly used in qualitative research in human geography (Winchester 1999; Browne 2005). As with snowball sampling, data collection was reliant on existing networks to secure respondents. Distinct from much of this work, this survey was not limited to a specific population subgroup but, rather, sought to collect a minimum number of respondents (N = 50) in each settlement.

Urban-type settlements are artifacts of the Soviet period and are generally smaller in population than cities and towns but larger than villages. Lewis and Rowland (1969) identified urban-type settlements as ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 persons in population in the 1959 Soviet Census.

This plan was formally articulated in a September 2010 policy document, entitled “Strategy for the Socioeconomic Development of the North Caucasus Federal Okrug until 2025.” The text of the document is available in Russian at http://krskfo.ru/en/44 (last accessed 6 October 2013).

In July 2012, a bomb was found on a beach in Makhachkala and successfully defused. Two years prior, a bomb had exploded on the same beach and maimed a beachgoer (see Lally 2012).

The survey asked respondents about the Deepwater Horizon spill. Only 13 percent reported that they were aware of the accident. When asked about the possibility of such an accident occurring the Caspian Sea, nearly half agreed that such an event was possible.

In the United States, a parallel example is the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking; this technique for extracting natural gas and oil is commonly (although not exclusively) being implemented in economically marginal areas with uncertain longer term consequences for the environment. Negro (2012, 1) wrote succinctly of opposition to fracking: “In many communities sitting on top of these gas reserves, enthusiasm over domestic drilling has been met with inflamed opposition from citizens and officials who express health, safety and environmental concerns.” We suggest that the fracking debate could also be informed by public opinion research at the sites of production.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eldar M. Eldarov

ELDAR M. ELDAROV is the Chairman of the Dagestan branch of the Russian Geographical Society and Head of the Department of Economic Geography and Sustainable Development at Dagestan State University, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia 367030. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests are focused on the study of socioeconomic and environmental processes in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea.

Edward C. Holland

EDWARD C. HOLLAND is Visiting Assistant Professor in International Studies and Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at Miami University, 120 MacMillan Hall, 501 E. Spring St., Oxford, OH 45056–1825. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research interests include social and political change for Russia's national minorities since the end of communism.

Magomed-Kamil B. Kamilov

MAGOMED-KAMIL B. KAMILOV is Head of the Department of Applied Informatics and Mathematical Methods in Management at Dagestan State University, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia 367030. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the design of economic and geographic information systems and the improvement of information technology in administration, production management, and business.