Energy in Russia describes energy and electricity production, consumption and export from Russia. Energy policy of Russia describes the energy policy in the politics of Russia more in detail. Electricity sector in Russia is the main article of electricity in Russia.
Primary energy use in 2009 in Russia was 7,524 TWh and 53 TWh per million persons.[1]
Contents |
| Energy in Russia[2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capita | Prim. energy | Production | Export | Electricity | CO2-emission | |
| Million | TWh | TWh | TWh | TWh | Mt | |
| 2004 | 143.9 | 7,461 | 13,473 | 5,943 | 812 | 1,529 |
| 2007 | 141.6 | 7,817 | 14,312 | 6,331 | 898 | 1,587 |
| 2008 | 141.8 | 7,987 | 14,583 | 6,240 | 814 | 1,594 |
| 2009 | 141.9 | 7,524 | 13,742 | 6,148 | 870 | 1,533 |
| Change 2004-2009 | -1.4 % | 0.8 % | 2.0 % | 3.4 % | 7.2 % | 0.2 % |
| Mtoe = 11.63 TWh, Prim. energy includes energy losses that are 2/3 for nuclear power[3] | ||||||
Russia is rich in energy resources. Russia has the largest known natural gas reserves of any state on earth, along with the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. This is 32% of world proven natural gas reserves (23% of the probable reserves), 12% of the proven oil reserves (42% of the probable reserves), 10% of the explored coal reserves (14% of the estimated reserves) and 8% of the proven uranium reserves.[4]
In recent years Russia has identified the gas sector as being of key strategic importance. The share of natural gas as a primary energy source is remarkably high compared to the rest of world. Russia has the world biggest natural gas reserves, mainly owned and operated by the Russian monopoly Gazprom, which produces 94% of Russia's natural gas production. In global context Gazprom holds 25% of the world's known gas reserves and produces of 16% of global output.[5] In 2006, Russia was the world's biggest natural gas producer with 22.0% of global natural gas production and also the biggest exporter with 22.9% of global natural gas export.[6]
Gazprom has a monopoly for the natural gas pipelines and has exclusive right to export natural gas, granted by the Federal Law "On Gas Export", which came into force on 20 July 2006.[7] Gazprom also has control over all gas pipelines leading out of Central Asia, and thus controls their access to the European market.[8] Russia has used Central Asia's gas, primarily that from Turkmenistan, on occasions where it has found itself unable to meet all its delivery obligations from its own production. Such circumstances in 2000 led to Gazprom allowing Turkmenistan to use its pipelines to supply gas to the Russian domestic market leaving Gazprom free to fulfil its obligations towards European customers.[9] Other main natural gas producers in Russia are gas companies Novatek, Itera, Northgas and Rospan, and vertically integrated oil companies Surgutneftegaz, TNK-BP, Rosneft and LUKOIL.[10]
The main export markets of Russian natural gas are the European Union and the CIS. Russia supplies a quarter of the EU gas consumption, mainly via transit trough Ukraine (Soyuz, Brotherhood) and Belarus (Yamal-Europe pipeline). The main importers are Germany (where links were developed as a result of Germany's Ostpolitik during the 1970s,[11] and also Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, Turkey, France and Hungary.
In September 2009, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia would try to liberalize the domestic gas market in the near future but would maintain Gazprom's export monopoly in the medium term.[12]
Russia is the largest oil producer in the non-OPEC countries, and second biggest in the world after Saudi Arabia,[13] which it overtakes as the world's number one from time to time.[14] In 2006, Russia contributed 12.1 % of global oil production and 11.6 % of global oil exports.[15] In June 2006, Russian crude oil and condensate production reached the post-Soviet maximum of 9.7 million barrels (1,540,000 m3) per day, exceeding production in 2000 by 3.2 Mbbl/d (510,000 m3/d). Russian export consists more than 5 Mbbl/d (790,000 m3/d) of oil and nearly 2 Mbbl/d (320,000 m3/d) of refined products, which go mainly to the European market. The domestic demand in 2005 was 2.6 Mbbl/d (410,000 m3/d) on average.[16] Russia is also the main transit country for oil from Kazakhstan.
The biggest Russian oil company is Rosneft followed by Lukoil, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz, Gazprom Neft and Tatneft.[17][18] All oil trunk pipelines (except the Caspian Pipeline Consortium) are owned and operated by the state-owned monopoly Transneft; oil products pipelines are owned and operated by its subsidiary Transnefteproduct. Currently, Transneft is constructing the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline that would bring Russian oil to the Asian-Pacific markets (China, Japan, Korea).
As the Arctic ice cap shrinks due to global warming, the prospect of oil exploration in the Arctic Ocean is thought to be an increasing possibility.[19] On December 20, 2001, Russia submitted documents to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf claiming expanded limits to Russian continental shelf beyond the previous 200 mile zone within the Russian Arctic sector.[20] In 2002 the UN Commission recommended that Russia should carry out additional research,[20] which commenced in 2007. It is thought that the area may contain 10bn tonnes of gas and oil deposits.[21]
Russia has the world’s second largest coal reserves, with 157 billion tonnes of reserves.
Russian coal reserves are widely dispersed. The principal hard coal deposits are located in the Pechora and Kuznetsk basins. The Kansk-Achinsk basin contains huge deposits of brown coal. The Siberian Lena and Tunguska basins constitute largely unexplored resources, the commercial exploitation of which would probably be difficult.[22]
Russia owns the biggest oil shale reserves in Europe equal to 35.47 billion tonnes of shale oil. More than 80 oil shale deposits have been identified. Main deposits are located in the Volga-Petchyorsk province and the Baltic Basin. Extraction of the deposits in the Volga-Petchyorsk province began in the 1930s, but was abandoned due to environmental problems. Main oil shale industry was concentrated on the Baltic Basin in Slantsy, but at the end of the 1990s the Slantsy oil shale processing plant and oil shale-fired power station were converted to use traditional hydrocarbons and mining activities ceased before 2005. In Syzran a small processing plant continues to operate.[23]
Small extra-heavy oil reserves have been identified in the Volga-Urals and North Caucasus-Mangyshlak basins. Large deposits of natural bitumen are located in Eastern Siberia in the Lena-Tunguska basin. Other bitumen deposits are located in the Timan-Pechora and Volga-Urals Basins, and in Tatarstan.[24] In September 2007, Tatneft and Royal Dutch Shell announced a strategic partnership to develop heavy crude oil production in Tatarstan, where Tatneft already has pilot production of bitumen.[25]
Uranium exploration and development activities have been largely concentrated on three east-of-Urals uranium districts (Transural, West Siberia and Vitim). The most important uranium producing area has been the Streltsovsky region near Krasnokamensk in the Chitinskaya Oblast. In 2005, the Russian Federation was the world’s fourth largest producer of uranium, accounting for 8.2% of global output.[26]
According to data from the US Energy Information Administration Russia was the fourth top emitter by “”fossil fuels CO2 in 2009”” 1) China: 7,710 million tonnes (mt) (25.4%) ahead of 2) US: 5,420 mt (17.8%), 3) India: 1,600 mt (5.3%), ””4) Russia: 1,570 mt (5.2%)”” and 5) Japan: 1,100 mt (3.6%).[27]
In the “”cumulative emissions between 1850 and 2007”” Russia was third top emittor following: 1. US: 339,200 mt (28.8%) 2. China: 105,900 mt (9.0%), ””3. Russia: 94,700 mt (8.0%)””, 4. Germany: 81,200 mt (6.9%), 5. UK: 68,800 mt (5.8%), 6. Japan: 45,600 mt (3.87%), 7. France: 32,700 mt (2.77%), 8. India: 28,800 mt (2.44%), 9. Canada: 25,7100 MT (2.2%) and 10. Ukraine: 25,400 mt (2.2%).[27]
Among the top emitter of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 including building and deforestation Russia was the fifth: 1. China: 7,220 mt (16.4%), 2. US: 6,930 mt (15.7%), 3. Brazil: 2,860 mt (6.5%), 4. Indonesia: 2,050 mt (4.6%), 5. Russia: 2,030 mt (4.6%), 6. India: 1,870 mt (4.2%), 7. Japan: 1,390 mt (3.1%), 8. Germany: 1,010 mt (2.3%), 9. Canada: 810 mt (1.8%), and 10. Mexico: 700 mt (1.6%).[27]
According to James Hansen the single most important action needed to tackle the climate crisis is to reduce CO2 emissions from coal. [28]
During 2005-2008 annual average of coal based carbon emissions were the highest in Europe in Russia 421 Mt, Germany 337 Mt, Poland 210 Mt, Ukraine 139 Mt and United Kingdom 147 Mt.
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