RIA Novosti: Russia’s Oil Reserves to Produce 600 Million Tons Annually for 30 Years – Minister

Oil Well file photo

MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s known oil reserves are enough to provide a yearly extraction of 600 million tons of oil for the next 30 years, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi told lawmakers on Wednesday, reaffirming the country may continue to heavily rely on natural resources to sustain its economy.

“The Russian Federation has a substantial potential to expand its oil reserves – the most reliable prospective oil resources found on the country’s territory make up 12.5 billion tons, while the less carefully studied forecast resources are estimated to have 50 billion tons,” Donskoi said.

“The already discovered resource base will essentially be enough to provide for the yearly extraction of 600 million tons of oil for the next 30 years,” the minister added.

The minister also called for measures to explore fields that have a more complex structure and have not been counted in the tally. The government is directing its attention and money towards alternative resources that are harder to extract, he said.

The latest economic measures will allow an increase in oil production by 20 million tons on average, boosting tax revenues by $60 billion by 2032.

The world’s top oil producer with a daily output of nearly 11 million barrels, Russia provides more than 13 percent of the world’s oil. Most of its developed oil wells are located in western Siberia.

Oil and gas exports account for 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Last year, the Russian budget balanced at a cost of $114 per barrel of oil, with prices averaging around $108 per barrel.

 

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