81.   The pipeline company paid most of the cost, with help from an export tariff imposed on Russian oil companies.

82.   The only thing Russian oil men want from the West is money.

83.   The Russians also want assurances that if a pro-Western regime is installed in Baghdad, Russian oil companies will not be frozen out of lucrative oil exploration there.

84.   The statistics on Russian oil production show why the country has the power to influence oil markets in the future.

85.   The shipments are one of an array of changes as Russian oil companies try to shed their image of being corrupt fiefdoms and to become respected international oil enterprises.

86.   The Timan Perchora project, run by a consortium of Western and Russian oil companies, has been thwarted by local authorities.

87.   They are also the places Russian oil and oil shipped through Russia from Central Asia must traverse to reach the economies of the West.

88.   They are interested in raising capital in the West for investment at home and developing foreign markets for Russian oil and gas.

89.   They formed a coalition with another major Russian oil company, Lukoil.

90.   They signal new confidence among western oil companies in the economic viability of Russian oil projects.