Fuel resources provide energy not only to the entire industry of any country in the world, but also to practically all spheres of human life. The most important part of the fuel and energy complex of Russia is the oil and gas sector.
The oil and gas industry is the generalized name for a complex of industrial enterprises for the extraction, transportation, processing and distribution of final products of oil and gas processing. This is one of the most powerful sectors of the Russian Federation, largely shaping the country's budget and balance of payments, providing foreign exchange earnings and maintaining the national currency.
The history of development
The beginning of the formation of the oil field in the industrial sector is considered to be 1859, when mechanical drilling of wells was first used in the USA for oil production . Now almost all oil is produced through wells with only a difference in production efficiency. In Russia, oil extraction from drilled wells began in 1864 in the Kuban. The production debit at that time was 190 tons per day. In order to increase profits, much attention was paid to the mechanization of extraction, and already at the beginning of the 20th century Russia took the leading place in oil production.
The first major oil recovery areas in Soviet Russia were the North Caucasus (Maykop, Grozny) and Baku (Azerbaijan). These depleted oldest deposits did not meet the needs of the developing industry, and substantial efforts were made to discover new deposits. As a result, several fields were commissioned in Central Asia, Bashkiria, Perm and Kuibyshev regions, the so-called Volga-Ural base was created.
The volume of oil produced reached 31 million tons. In the 60s, the amount of black gold mined increased to 148 million tons, of which 71% accounted for the Volga-Ural region. In the 70s, deposits of the West Siberian basin were discovered and commissioned. With oil exploration, a large number of gas deposits were discovered.
The importance of the oil and gas industry for the Russian economy
The oil and gas industry has a significant impact on the Russian economy. Currently, this is the basis for budgeting and ensuring the functioning of many other sectors of the economy. The value of the national currency largely depends on world oil prices. The carbon energy resources mined in the Russian Federation can fully satisfy the domestic demand for fuel, ensure the country's energy security, and also make a significant contribution to the global energy economy.
The Russian Federation has huge hydrocarbon potential. The oil and gas industry of Russia is one of the leading in the world, fully provides domestic current and future needs for oil, natural gas, and products of their processing. A significant amount of hydrocarbon resources and their products are exported, providing replenishment of foreign exchange reserves. Russia ranks second in the world in terms of liquid hydrocarbon reserves with a share of about 10%. Oil reserves have been explored and developed in the bowels of 35 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Oil and gas industry: structure
There are several basic structural processes that make up the oil and gas industry: oil and gas production, transportation and refining industries.
- Hydrocarbon production is a complex process, including field exploration, well drilling, direct production and primary treatment of water, sulfur and other impurities. Oil and gas production and pumping to the commercial metering center are carried out by enterprises or structural units, the infrastructure of which includes booster and cluster pumping stations, water discharge plants and oil pipelines.
- Oil and gas are transported from production sites to metering stations, to refineries and to the final consumer using pipeline, water, road and rail transport. Pipelines (field and trunk) are the most economical way to transport hydrocarbons, despite the very expensive facilities and maintenance. Pipelines transport oil and gas over long distances, including various continents. Transportation by water using tankers and barges with a displacement of up to 320 thousand tons is carried out in intercity and international communications. Rail and truck transport can also be used to transport crude oil over long distances, but is most cost-effective on relatively short routes.
- Processing of crude hydrocarbon energy is carried out in order to obtain various types of petroleum products. First of all, these are different types of fuel and raw materials for subsequent chemical processing. The process is carried out at oil refineries. The final products of processing, depending on the chemical composition, are divided into different brands. The final stage of production is the mixing of various components obtained in order to obtain the necessary composition corresponding to a particular brand of oil product.
Deposits of the Russian Federation
The oil and gas industry in Russia includes 2352 developed oil fields. The largest oil and gas region in Russia is Western Siberia, accounting for 60% of all mined black gold. A significant part of oil and gas is produced in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts. Product extraction in other regions of the Russian Federation:
- Volga-Ural base - 22%.
- Eastern Siberia - 12%.
- Northern deposits - 5%.
- Caucasus - 1%.
The share of Western Siberia in the extraction of natural gas reaches almost 90%. The largest deposits (about 10 trillion cubic meters) occur in the Urengoyskoye field in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Gas production in other regions of the Russian Federation:
- Far East - 4.3%.
- Volga-Ural deposits - 3.5%.
- Yakutia and Eastern Siberia - 2.8%.
- Caucasus - 2.1%.
Oil and gas processing
The refining task is to turn crude oil and gas into marketable products. Oil refining products include heating oil, gasoline for vehicles, jet fuel, and diesel. The refining process includes distillation, vacuum distillation, catalytic reforming, cracking, alkylation, isomerization and hydrotreating.
Natural gas processing includes compression, amine purification, glycol drying. The fractionation process involves the separation of the liquefied natural gas stream into its constituent parts: ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and gas gasoline.
The largest companies in Russia
Initially, all the largest oil and gas fields were developed exclusively by the state. To date, these facilities are available for use by private companies. In total, the Russian oil and gas industry has more than 15 large upstream enterprises, including the well-known Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz.
The largest Russian companies in the field of gas production and processing are Gazprom and Novatek. In the oil industry, Rosneft has a leading market position, and the leading companies are Lukoil, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz.
Oil and gas industry: review of the world situation
By the number of proven oil reserves, the Russian Federation ranks sixth in the world. Proved reserves are those that can be obtained using modern technology. The leading position in the world is Venezuela. The amount of oil reserves in this country is 298 billion barrels. Proven natural gas reserves in Russia are 47.6 trillion cubic meters. This is the first indicator in the world and 32% of the total world volume. The second gas supplier in the world are the countries of the Middle East.
The oil and gas industry in the world allows us to solve important economic, political and social problems. Given the favorable situation on world energy markets, many oil and gas suppliers, through export revenues, make significant investments in the national economy and demonstrate exceptional growth dynamics. The countries of South-West Asia, as well as Norway, which, with low industrial development, due to hydrocarbon reserves, has become one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, can be considered the most illustrative examples.
Development prospects
The oil and gas industry of the Russian Federation largely depends on the market behavior of its main competitors in production: Saudi Arabia and the United States. By itself, the total amount of hydrocarbons produced does not determine world prices. The dominant indicator is the percentage of production in a single oil country. The cost of producing 1 barrel in different leading countries in production varies significantly: the lowest in the Middle East, the highest in the United States. If the volume of oil production is unbalanced, prices can change both in one direction and the other.