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This thesis is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study of risk governance in the oil and gas sector in the Russian North. Against a backdrop of the author's experience of training to be and working as a lawyer in both Siberia and the United States, it is based on four types of sources: (i) texts of relevant policies, laws, and administrative regulations; (ii) transcripts of official presidential meetings, addresses, and speeches on matters relevant to oil and gas development; (iii) observations obtained during fieldwork, including data from semistructured interviews; and (iv) energy statistics and results of various public polls. After a review of the basic characteristics and trends of the industry, highlighting the distinctive role hydrocarbons play in the Russian economy, society, and politics, the argument starts with theories of risk and risk governance in the context of the global energy sector. Moving on to rules of risk governance, the discussion homes in on how these rules actually work in the policy, legal, and regulatory regime of Russia. A subsequent chapter introduces the conceptual common denominator for analysing the dynamic between the principal parties in risk governance - the social concept of power. It includes a study of a trunk pipeline called (appropriately) the Power of Siberia, in which law emerges as a demarcation of sovereign power. The next chapter explains particular challenges of risk governance of the oil and gas sector through the concept of network power. The final chapter examines sovereign power structures responsible for governing risk posed by oil and gas activities, and the allocation of such risks and benefits, in Russia's 'Petrostate'. Throughout the thesis, the relevant Russian policy, legal, and regulatory regime, which serves as the case study, is closely interwoven with wider social theory. This study contributes to risk theory by proposing the Risk Governance Power Framework, an analytical framework for understanding power relations that shape risk governance of the oil and gas sector. The framework asserts that the following three factors play critical roles in influencing the power relations: (i) the strength of network power behind the hazardous activity; (ii) the capacity of the sovereign power structures and agents responsible for governing risks related to the activity to counter-balance the network power behind the hazardous activity; and (iii) the spatial and temporal allocation of individual and public risks and benefits. The network power of the oil and gas sector is premised on three dependences: technological, socio-economic, and political.

This chapter establishes the interconnection between existing environmentalglobal governance systems and cyberspace/cybersecurity as well as the firstever parallel between the environmental (liability) regime and the nascentcybersecurity regime. Understanding the interconnections between theseand the role of law, policies and practices in the European High North(EHN) is critical to understanding the variables affecting both climatechange and cyberspace. Although climate change and cyberspace aredifferent phenomena, the risks associated with both of them areanthropogenic and can affect the same critical equities, including keysectors such as water, food and energy infrastructures. The aim of this study is to better grasp the development of cyberspace and its revolutionaryimpact on human behaviour and human security. This chapter examinesand addresses four core ideas: (1) the linkage between climate change,environmental threats and cybersecurity in the EHN; (2) how theinterconnectedness of environmental threats and cybersecurity can beidentified, managed and regulated, including aspects of governance forcybersecurity and cyber resilience in the EHN; (3) how cyberthreats andtheir related risk assessments can be incorporated into regulatoryframeworks in order to create proactive rather than reactive law byexploring which is the best regulatory framework (or possible combination)applicable among different areas of law; and (4) the current cyberthreats,for example, in the energy industry and specifically to criticalinfrastructures (CIs) of the energy system, which will advise on the need todesign a future agreement incorporating the notion of human security

With world's largest conventional natural gas reserves, flat domestic demand, and uncertain demand for pipeline gas exports, Russia is poised to become an important player in the global LNG market. Indeed, the Russian leadership named LNG development as one of the key features of its energy policy. This article aims to examine this policy ambition and reflect on the barriers to and opportunities in realising it. The article provides an overview of LNG projects in Russia and examines the policy rationale for their expansion.