597 



Government policies and institutions should be reexamined. The grain 

 sales raise questions as to the appropriate role for the U.S. Govern- 

 ment in future commercial transactions. What should U.S. pricing 

 policy be? Pricing policy may differ depending on whether the U.S. 

 Government considers the Soviet Union a preferred customer and on 

 what the elasticity of Soviet demand is assumed to be. If credit is 

 necessary, but not commercially available, what Governmental risks 

 and costs are justified? Are there other ways in which the U.S. Gov- 

 ernment can assist American businesses dealing with Soviet trading 

 monopolies ? Each o.f these questions is relevant to future U.S.-Soviet 

 commercial relations, not only in grain sales but in advanced tech- 

 nology transfers. 



JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF SIBERIAN NATURAL GAS RESOURCES 



In assessing potential Soviet exports to the United States, there 

 are also important questions on investment, pricing, and supply pol- 

 icy. The proposal for joint development of Soviet Siberian natural 

 gas resources, for example, raises the question, How good an invest- 

 ment is Soviet energy exploitation? The two natural gas projects 

 might require a U.S. investment of about $10-12 billion, largely for 

 pipeline and tankers. Upon completion of the projects, gas would flow 

 from Urengoy, in West Siberia, to Murmansk by pipeline ; from there 

 it would be shipped to the U.S. East Coast. A second pipeline would 

 carry gas from Yakutsk, in East Siberia, to Nakhodka, where it would 

 be loaded for shipment to Japan and the U.S. West Coast. (See map, 

 Figure 3.) 



