Russia is reaping the economic benefits of sky-high world oil prices, but appears uncertain how to translate its energy riches into lasting international political influence.

Russia's leaders seem in little doubt that, in an era of $60 a barrel oil, they command more attention on the world stage than at any time since the break-up of the Soviet Union abruptly denuded Moscow of its great power status.

"In the 1970s and 1980s nuclear weapons are what gave the Soviet Union a position in the world. In this decade it's energy which has given Russian an entree to the top table," said Stephen O'Sullivan, a strategist at UFG in Moscow.

With energy supplies tight, a growing number of countries have their eyes on Russia, the world's second largest oil producer and its biggest source of gas reserves, as a potential long-term supplier of hydrocarbons.

"It's interesting for Russia to be courted by so many countries. The United States is interested in liquefied natural gas, Europe in gas and China in oil," said Mr O'Sullivan.

Benchmark New York oil futures hit a record $68 last week.

"It gives Russia a very strong calling card with other countries which five years ago it did not have because of the oil prices," Mr O'Sullivan said.

But some analysts warn Russia may be developing a distorted image of itself and could quickly lose sight of the vulnerability of its source of wealth in a world in which long term oil prices are notoriously difficult to predict.

"There is a petro-arrogance in Russia right now," said Clifford Kupchan, an analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington.

"They say it (oil) will restore their place in the world which has been denied them. They are wrong. What this will create is the oil curse, not a superpower," he said.

At times of high energy prices, oil exporters can be plagued by the dreaded "Dutch disease", when a flood of petrodollars pushes up the value of the local currency and drives increasingly uncompetitive manufacturers to the wall.    

A struggle between state gas behemoth Gazprom and state oil firm Rosneft for control of oil assets after the break-up of Yukos, formerly Russia's biggest oil company, is also a distraction for policymakers when they could be working on defining a broader oil strategy.

"The key oil-related issue for Russia's future is how to maximize revenues from extractive resources on the one hand and how to use these revenues to the benefit of society as a whole," said Christof Ruehl, deputy chief economist at oil major BP.

Russia could be saddled with the worst of both worlds as a strengthening rouble squeezes manufacturers and swinging taxation of the oil windfall reduces the incentive for companies to invest in new exploration and production.

"On the face of it, $60 oil should be just what Russia needs to boost production dramatically and challenge Saudi Arabia as the top oil producer," said Julian Lee, an oil industry expert at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

"The problem is that most of the incremental revenue is going to the government and not industry. We are not getting the investment that one might expect at this level of oil prices."

There is not enough in it at present for oil companies to invest, say some economists. "You need to have a tax system where there are incentives for the private producers to produce in response to high prices," said Mr Ruehl.

One option that is not open to Russia is to operate, as Saudi Arabia does, as a "swing producer," moving oil production up and down at will in order to influence world crude prices.

"What it (Russia) may never have is the elasticity to vary the utilisation of production capacity to the degree Saudi Arabia does. There, for technical and climatic reasons production can be driven up and down easily," said Mr Ruehl. Extreme cold in Siberia, where most of Russia's oil wealth lies, makes it practically impossible for oil supplies to be turned on and off at will in response to fluctuations in demand.

"If Russia wants to be the main oil supplier to Europe it should go ahead with creating a delivery infrastructure geared to the markets it wants to target," said Mr Lee.

"I don't get a sense yet of a completely coherent policy but practice suggests that is the policy it appears to be following."