Petroleum CSR in Russia is particularly important in remote Northern regions with harsh climate, and it has specific national characteristics that result from historic, economic, political and psychological factors. Soviet social responsibility in the oil and gas industry was born in West Siberia where major oil fields were discovered in the 1960s, and tens of thousands of workers from the “mainland” arrived in a sparsely-inhabited land with adverse natural conditions. Siberian oil production associations had to become the “founding fathers” of oil towns and ensure acceptable living standards for their employees, so that they would meet challenging crude production plans. This all-encompassing social responsibility was the consequence of mismanagement and dysfunctions within the Soviet system, a low level of automation and poor productivity in the oil industry, and the harsh climate of West Siberia. During the 1990s, most vertically-integrated oil companies divested their non-core social assets, passing them to municipalities, and their social responsibility began to resemble the CSR of International Oil Companies. Now, all Russian petroleum companies proclaim firm commitment to CSR in accordance with globally-recognized principles. However, a survey of CSR perceptions among MBA students from the main oil and gas companies show that their views are a combination of the Soviet legacy, recollections of the roaring 1990s, the current situational context, and Western attitudes that were transplanted into Russia.