Russia's natural resources

Russia held the world’s largest proven natural gas reserves in 2023, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. The country was the world’s largest exporter of natural gas for many years but following European sanctions resulting from the Ukrainian invasion, exports of this resource decreased to Europe; however, exports to China increased dramatically. Similarly, once the second largest exporter of oil, the Ukrainian invasion caused shifts in global imports of Russian oil, and though the country remained third in oil exports in 2022, some experts predicted a decrease in this number in 2023 as further sanctions were scheduled to take effect. Russia also produces large percentages of mineral commodities like gold, iron ore, and platinum.

The Country

Russia is located in northern Asia and eastern Europe and borders the Arctic Ocean between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean. In 2021, Russia was the world's sixth largest economy but had dropped to the eighth by 2023. During that year, the country had an estimated gross domestic product of $5.816 trillion. The prominent land features in the country are vast interior plains and plateaus rimmed by rugged mountains. Between 1924 and 1991, Russia was the cornerstone of the Soviet Union, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). On December 25, 1991, the last Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev, resigned, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Boris Yeltsin became the first president of the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Putin has been the chief of state since 2012. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was then established by republics of the former Soviet Union, including all former Soviet republics except the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In 2005, the members of the CIS were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In August 2005, Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership and became an associate member. Following the South Ossetian War in 2008, Georgia’s parliament voted unanimously to withdraw from the regional organization. In early 2022, the international community sanctioned Russia for invading Ukraine in February of that year, which was ongoing as of January 2025, making it the largest invasion of a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. Despite near global condemnation of this act, Russia annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, including Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and natural gas exports, and its economic growth in the first decade of the twenty-first century was driven primarily by such energy exports. Rapid industrialization led to massive exploitation of natural resources with little thought to environmental protection.

Natural Gas

In January of 2023, Russia held the world’s largest natural gas reserve, with nearly one-third of the world's total at 1,688 trillion cubic feet, it was the world’s second largest natural gas producer and the largest exporter. Almost all the country’s gas production is under the control of Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled gas company. Growth in Russia’s natural gas sector has been historically slow because of aging fields, state regulation, Gazprom’s monopolistic control over the energy industry, and limited export pipelines. Nearly 70 percent of Gazprom’s natural gas production comes from three major fields in western Siberia, Medvezh’yegorsk, Urengoy, and Kingisepp. In 2021, Russia consumed 71 percent of its natural gas domestically.

Russia exports significant amounts of natural gas to customers in the CIS states. However, Gazprom expanded its natural gas exports to serve the rising demand in the European Union, Turkey, Japan, and China. From 1960 to 2010, natural gas increased more than fivefold. Natural gas generates smaller amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) than other fossil fuels and contains fewer pollutants such as sulfur. In addition, natural gas is easier to clean and burns with much higher efficiency in electrical power plants than do other fossil fuels. The Kyoto Protocol called for many nations to reduce the emission of GHGs, especially carbon dioxide. Using natural gas instead of coal in electrical power plants cuts down on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by one-half. Natural gas is anticipated to become one of the main energy sources of choice as the twenty-first century unfolds. The Russian Federation’s ministry of energy predicted that natural gas production in Russia would range between 635 and 665 billion cubic meters in 2010 and between 680 and 730 billion cubic meters in 2020. In 2022, Russia exported 176.056 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. As of 2022, Russian natural gas comprised about 17 percent of the European Union's (EU) total natural gas supply. This was much lower than in the past and largely due to the invasion of Ukraine.

In February 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, prompting countries around the world to condemn the invasion and impose severe economic sanctions. The invasion strengthened and accelerated the EU's prior resolve to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas and other energy sources. In March 2022, the EU's executive organization, the European Commission, announced a proposal to reduce EU imports of Russian gas by two-thirds that year and end imports completely before 2030. Germany suspended certification, and thus operation, of Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline which was to bring natural gas from Russia directly to Germany. The United States also sanctioned Nord Stream 2 AG, the parent company of the pipeline, and its corporate officers.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada, the EU, and Japan, also motivated Russia to end its reliance on European gas markets. In February 2022, Gazprom announced that it had signed a deal to design a new natural gas pipeline, Soyuz Vostok, between Russia and China. If the two nations agree on a supply deal, the pipeline could carry an estimated 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. In January 2023, the two countries reportedly signed an intergovernmental agreement to build a pipeline which could produce 10 billion cubic meters of gas supply each year. Construction of the pipeline was scheduled to begin in 2024 and be completed by 2027-2028. However, by January 2025, construction had not begun.

Petroleum

The Russian city of Baku first began trading its oil around 300 CE, and by the late 1600s, nearly five hundred hand-dug wells existed in Baku, producing refined oil for lighting and ointments throughout Persia and Russia. In 1833, commercial oil production began in Chechnya. In 1846, the first oil well was drilled in Baku by engineer F. M. Semenov. The first American well, drilled by Edwin Drake in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859, marked the beginning of the modern industry.

During the 1980s, the Soviet Union was the world’s largest oil producer, and the Russian republic produced more than 90 percent of the total. However, by 1999, Russia had become the world’s third largest oil producer. The fall in oil production was attributed to economic factors following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Oil output began to rebound in 1999 after the privatization of the industry following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rejuvenation of old oil fields. As of 2022, Russia was the world’s second largest global oil exporter, and as of 2021, Russia was sourcing around 22.7 percent of its domestic energy needs from oil. More than 70 percent of Russian crude oil production was exported to CIS countries, Germany, Poland, and other destinations in central and eastern Europe. The majority of Russia’s oil exports are transported via Transneft-controlled pipelines. Russian oil exports to the United States almost doubled between 2004 and 2007, then peaked at 624,000 barrels per day in 2011. By 2017, exports to the US dropped to 384,000 barrels per day, representing about 4 percent of US crude oil imports and $7 billion US dollars in revenue for Russia. In total between January and October of 2022, Russia exported around 5 million barrels per day via the sea and piped exports, with China receiving 36 percent of the total.

According to energy statistics released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), Russia’s total oil reserves as of January 2023 were 80 billion barrels. Russia’s major reserves come from the West Siberian basin and the Volga-Urals region. Offshore basins in the Barents and the Kara seas, and the Caspian basin are considered promising areas for further development. Russia’s production growth in the twenty-first century depends on the availability of viable export routes. Inefficient construction practices and poor maintenance have led to frequent pipeline breaks and leakages, which have impacted the environment and ecosystems. With the development of more efficient oil pipelines and new field developments, the country’s oil production was reported to have the potential to increase by 50 percent.

Coal

In 2021, the United States, Russia, and China held about 60 percent of the nearly 1 trillion metric tons of recoverable coal reserves. Russia held the world’s second largest recoverable coal reserves, with 162 billion tons at the end of 2022, behind the United States. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Russia ranked fifth in the world in coal production, after China, the United States, India, and Australia. Between 2006 and 2020, coal production and coal exports increased significantly, though consumption remained relatively consistent. In 2006, Russia produced 291 million metric tons of coal, consumed 235 million metric tons, and exported 55 million metric tons. In 2022, Russia produced 508.19 million metric tons of coal, consumed 310.96 million metric tons, and exported 220.31 million metric tons. Russia’s two largest coal basins are the Kansk-Achinsk lignite basin in East Siberia and the Kuznetsk Basin in West Siberia.

In 2022, around 60 percent of Russia’s domestic energy needs were sourced from fossil fuels, and coal accounted for 18 percent of this in 2019. Environmental concerns and greenhouse-gas emissions pose challenges to coal as an energy source. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force after being ratified by Russia and other nations. By 2007, 169 countries had ratified the Kyoto Protocol; the United States and Australia were the only major nations abstaining. By 2022, 192 nations had ratified the protocol. The Russian government and energy industry wanted to increase coal production and consumption so that more natural gases and oil could be exported. However, this action could increase Russia’s GHG emissions.

Uranium and Nuclear Energy

Uranium mining in Russia has historically been conducted entirely by the corporation JSC TVEL’s mining enterprises, through at its subsidiary JSC Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union. Annual uranium production remained between 2,635 and 3,564 metric tons from 2004 to 2021, of which, more than 90 percent was produced by Priargunsky. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia owned a large uranium stockpile, which totaled between 200,000 and 250,000 metric tons. In 2021, Russia ranked in the top five countries in the world for uranium resources, with 486,000 tons or 8 percent of the global total. According to the World Nuclear Association, the country’s 2021 natural uranium consumption amounted to approximately 5,500 metric tons. Most uranium consumption lies in nuclear power facilities.

Sustainable economic growth and rapid industrialization in Russia led to increasing demand for alternative energy resources in the twenty-first century. Hydropower and nuclear power are two common alternative energy resources used by many countries. Hydroelectric power is productive and supplies nearly all the electricity in some countries such as Norway. Nuclear power accounted for about 19 percent of the electricity generated worldwide at the end of 2021, with Russia supplying around 8.2 percent of this total. In 2022, Russia's power from fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal-fired) accounted for about 60.3 percent of the electricity generated by Russia, followed by nuclear (19.6 percent) and hydropower (19.2 percent). The Russian government intended to expand the role of nuclear and hydroelectric power generation in the 2020s to reduce GHG emissions and allow for greater export of fossil fuels. However, Russia’s nuclear power facilities are aging, and nearly one-half of the country’s nuclear reactors use the reaktor bolshoy moshchnosti kanalniy, more commonly known as RBMK, design employed in Ukraine’s ill-fated Chernobyl plant. In 1986, a reactor explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev, Ukraine (then in the Soviet Union), caused a nuclear meltdown considered to be the worst nuclear accident in history; the immediate area had to be evacuated and the contamination is not expected to be fully dissipated for at least two centuries. To avoid nuclear accidents and radioactive pollution of this or any other magnitude, the Russian government and the nuclear industry need to take actions to ensure the safety of old nuclear power facilities and to develop new nuclear power plants that employ up-to-date technologies.

Gold

Gold was adopted as the monetary standard by the British Empire in 1821, which led to “gold fever” in the second half of the nineteenth century. Many gold-rich placer deposits were discovered in Siberia, Alaska, California, Australia, and South Africa, and gold coinage became the largest use of gold for more than a century. The first gold rush was in Russia, where the czar encouraged exploration for gold. Production increased from 1.5 metric tons per year in 1823 to 5.9 metric tons per year in 1830. By 1846, Russian production accounted for more than half of the world production. In the twentieth century, rapid increases in world gold mining and production occurred. Production in the Soviet Union began a long climb in the mid-1950s, toward its peak of 302 metric tons in 1990.

Total world gold production from its beginnings in prehistory through 2000 was estimated to be 142,000 metric tons, of which more than two-thirds came from only five countries—South Africa, 34 percent; Russia, 11 percent; the United States, 10 percent; Australia, 7 percent; and Canada, 6 percent. In 1999, Russia ranked sixth in world gold output. The majority of production was from placer deposits in the eastern part of the country. More than 65 percent of the resources are located in eastern Siberia and the Russian far east. In recent history, foreign companies have controlled 15 to 18 percent of Russian gold production, which was the largest share held for any commodity in the Russian mining industry. In December 2021, Russia’s reserves of foreign exchange and gold totaled $632.24 billion, and production reached 346 metric tons. However, gold exports were predicted, in 2022, to suffer greatly in the following years due to sanctions resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Diamond

In 1999, Russia was estimated to be the world’s third largest producer of gem and industrial diamonds. The first diamondiferous kimberlite pipe, a low-grade pipe, was found in Siberia in 1954, and several higher-grade diamondiferous kimberlite pipes have been discovered since. Among them, the Mir pipe (also known as the Mirny Mine) was one of the world’s largest excavated holes, with a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1,200 meters. Similar to the diamondiferous kimberlite in South Africa, a regional zoning of the kimberlites occurs within the Siberian Platform. A central zone of diamondiferous kimberlites is surrounded by a zone with pyrope and lower-grade diamond, then by a zone of pyrope, and eventually, by an outer zone of kimberlites in which neither of these high-pressure minerals is present. The Almazy Rossii-Sakha Association (ALROSA) accounted for 97 percent of Russian diamond production and about 25 percent of world rough-diamond production in 2005. Its major mining operations were located in the Sakha Republic. However, in 2005, the company began production at the Lomonosov diamond deposit in the northern European part of the country in Arkhangel’sk Oblast. Almost all the production came from kimberlite deposits near Mirny in the Sakha Republic. ALROSA was able to maintain its level of mine output by gradually switching to underground mining to extract low-grade diamond ore reserves. In 2022, Russia produced around 30 percent of the world’s diamonds, with ALROSA producing 90 percent of these. Potential production of gem-quality synthesized diamonds may influence the diamond market in the future. Russia is also a major producer of synthesized diamonds.

Nickel

Russia was one of the world’s leading producers of nickel in 2021, accounting for around 20 percent of class one nickel production. According to Russia’s minister of natural resources, the country had 36 percent of the world’s nickel reserves. The Noril’sk region had 77.5 percent of the country’s nickel reserves. The world-class deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group metals of the Noril’sk-Talnakh district in Russia are hosted by relatively small, complex mafic-ultramafic bodies that intrude Permian rocks and the lowermost suites of the Siberian continental flood-volcanic sequence. Noril’sk has world-class nickel sulfide deposits, with an estimated reserve of 900 million metric tons of ore. Nickel is an important ferroalloy metal used to make nickel steels, nickel cast irons, coinage, and many other alloys. As of 2014, more than 90 percent of nickel in Russia was produced by Noril’sk Nickel, which mines deposits of mixed sulfide ores mainly near Noril’sk in East Siberia, but also on the Kola Peninsula. Again in 2021, Noril’sk Nickel produced the majority of Russia's nickel at 195,000 tons or 7.2 percent of the world's supply.

The city of Noril’sk in western Siberia is likely the most polluted city in Russia and one of the most polluted places in the world as of 2021. Millions of metric tons of toxic gases and wastes are released by the Noril’sk Metallurgical Combine each year. The society and in the region are severely damaged. Local physicians have reported that residents in the region have a high incidence of respiratory illness and a shortened life expectancy (as low as fifty years).

Iron

Russia was one of the world's top five ranked steel producers in 2023, after China, India, Japan, and the United States. From 1998 to 2005, Russian steel production increased by more than 50 percent. Steel companies in Russia relied on iron ore from domestic deposits. These deposits often were owned by more than one Russian steel company. Almost 60 percent of iron-ore reserves are located in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) in European Russia, and about 15 percent are located in the Ural Mountains region. Almost 50 percent of the country’s iron ore was mined from the KMA in 2014. That year, about 60.2 million metric tons of iron ore were mined in Russia, and in 2022, this number reached 90 metric tons.

Other Resources

Russia has many world-class resources other than the ones described. The Noril’sk-Talnakh deposit in Russia is not only the world’s richest nickel deposit but also one of the world’s largest platinum-group-metal and copper deposits. Global platinum-group-metal production and reserves are dominated by South Africa. According to Russia’s minister of natural resources, Russia has more than 40 percent of the world’s platinum-group-metal reserves and almost all reserves are in mixed sulfide ores at the Noril’sk complex. More than 50 percent of Russia’s copper metal production was produced by Noril’sk Nickel from ore mined by the company. The remainder came from a much smaller amount of ore mined in the Ural Mountains and a large amount of secondary material.

In 2020, Russia ranked third in the world in alumina production and in 2022, seventh in the world in bauxite output. Russia ranked second in the world in mine output of antimony in 2022. All antimony reserves are in the Sakha Republic. The only sources of antimony production are gold antimony quartz vein-type deposits, which account for about 50 percent of the antimony reserves.

Russia is not only the leading country for available fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, but also a source of substantial unconventional energy resources, such as coal-bed methane, peat, and oil shales, which contain large amount of fuels. These resources are uneconomical to exploit at present, but emerging technologies are being developed to allow for economical production in the near future. Russia is among the world’s largest peat producers. Peat is a natural, renewable, organic matter that covers about 4 percent of the world’s land surface. Research shows that peat can also be converted into methane gas by bacterial digestion or by thermal breakdown at 400°-500° Celsius.

Coal-bed methane is being increasingly developed as a new source of natural gas. Russia holds the world’s largest coal-bed methane resource. Methane gas in coal mines has long been considered potentially risky. Methane explosions have killed tens of thousands of miners in the world. On the other hand, coal-bed methane is viewed as an undeveloped resource. Emerging technologies are being developed to systematically extract methane gas from coal seams to be used as energy sources, which would also reduce the likelihood of methane gas explosions in coal mines. Over time, coal-bed methane will become an important energy resource.

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