Leading Energy Industry Expert

Yuri Shafranik is an internationally-recognized expert in the energy sector

He is a Distinguished Worker of the Oil Industry of the Russian Federation (2010) and an Honorary Citizen of the city of Langepas, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and the Tyumen Region.

Yuri Shafranik was one of the forefathers of the new Russia's oil and gas industry. With his active participation, Russia has joined such large-scale international projects as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Sakhalin-1, and Sakhalin-2.

As Yuri Shafranik has repeatedly mentioned in his speeches: "All these projects have been extremely important in both the regional and international terms. For example, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium was the first consortium, the first private pipe to run from Kazakhstan to Russia and on to the Black Sea." He also initiated programs aimed at the development and restructuring of Russia's oil, coal, and electric energy industries, which helped to save and grow the potential of the Russian fuel and energy complex.

Projects in the Russian oil industry have become an example of successfully attracting foreign capital. For instance, Sakhalin-2 was one of the first experiences of bringing foreign investors, such as the world-famous British-Dutch Shell and Japanese Mitsui and Mitsubishi, to the Russian market. Essentially, Sakhalin-2 was the first Russian project to have secured major project financing. In 2018, the project’s operator, Sakhalin Energy, produced 3.98 million tons (or 28.29 million barrels) of oil, 1.58 million tons (or 13.93 million barrels) of condensate, and 11.41 million tons of LNG.

In 1992, Yuri Shafranik co-founded a non-commercial organization "The Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia" (until mid-1995 known as "The Union of Oil and Gas Producers"). The Union was launched and backed by the heads of 50 largest Russian fuel and energy companies, including Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, Surgutneftegaz, Rosneft, Kogalymneftegaz, Gazprom (from 1995), among others. Yuri Shafranik currently chairs the organization's Board of Directors.

Throughout all these years, the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia has been focusing its activities on establishing corporate solidarity: it identifies common positions shared by the market players and brings together the Russian oil and gas community on mutually beneficial terms, acting for the common good.

Among its partners are such important international organizations as:
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
IEA, the International Energy Agency
IEAC, the International Energy Advisory Council
PAF, the Petroleum Advisory Forum
USAID, the United States Agency for International Development

In 2002, Yuri Shafranik was behind the creation of a collegial non-profit partnership entity the "Mining Industry of Russia," the Supreme Mining Council. Now, Yuri Shafranik is part of the organization's upper management. The collegial body is engaged in improving the education and training for highly qualified personnel of the Russian mining industry. 2003 was the year when the Concept of Personnel Policy in the Mineral and Raw Materials Sector of the Country's Economy was adopted. In 2011, the Concept was partially revised to take into account the reorganization in the higher education system.

Yuri Shafranik is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Energy Strategy. This organization is in charge of the Coordination and Analytical Center for Neural Network Forecasting, which oversees the development of the energy sector. In addition, the Institute monitors current trends in the global oil and gas market as well as the innovative methods for sustainable development in the energy sector.