Effective performance of oil industry is a driving factor of the Russian economy growth. Key issues of petroleum industry which to the greatest extent determine its economic security include: high production costs and environmental unfriendliness of oil refining, significant depreciation of fixed assets, low oil refining depth, high consumption of energy and other resources. Being aware of obvious dependence on the largest source of income for the federal budget, on the volume and cost of oil exports, Russian government authorities actively apply the levers of economic and political regulation of the industry in order to stabilize and increase budget revenues. However, the main goal being budget income growth, the government measures often worsen the level of environmental safety for both individual enterprises and the petroleum complex as a whole. In this regard, the environmental factor assessment in terms of t oil industry threat actualizes the issues of careful and responsible long-term environmental trajectory.