Blowout

In August 2011, Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil made a point to visit Russia, understanding that his presence at a signing ceremony before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would deposit goodwill into his strategic relationship with Russia. ExxonMobil’s numbers were rising steadily after the Great Recession of the late 2000s, and so was company morale. To keep this momentum moving forward, Tillerson knew that every moment he spent in Russia would be valuable. At the time of Tillerson’s visit, Russia was already producing close to 15% of the world’s oil, and “Russia held more natural gas underground than any other country on earth” (164).

The signing ceremony itself was the consolidation of a deal between ExxonMobil and Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company. This deal would bring Vladimir Putin and Rex Tillerson together, united in purpose as their respective companies grew exponentially. Tillerson knew that “you [had to] get Putin’s buy-in on the deal, or there is no deal, period” (167).

This chapter explores Igor Sechin, who rose through the ranks to become Vladimir Putin’s right-hand man. Through years of faithful service to the Russian president, Sechin became “Putin’s closest confidant and his number one loyalist” (170), which eventually landed him the post of top oil man in Russia.