Will Russia, the Oil Superpower, Flex Its Muscles

MOSCOW

RUSSIA is again emerging as a superpower - but the reason has less to do with nuclear weapons than with oil.

The country has its swagger back, as its economy expands for the fourth consecutive year and the world price of oil hovering at just over $45 a barrel. Now the second-largest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia, Russia has positioned itself as an important alternative supplier to the increasingly unstable Middle East.
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Oil markets are likely to remain jittery for a while, because of sabotage in Iraq, a referendum today on President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and the Aug. 31 deadline for Yukos to pay its 2000 tax bill. But the Kremlin is unlikely to let Russian exports drop significantly as a result of its fight with Mr. Khodorkovsky, industry executives and analysts said.

http://nytimes.com/2004/08/15/business/yourmoney/15russia.html

The Yukos dealio wasn't just about whistling Dixie.