Russia’s activity in the Arctic region: towards a polar desert?

Russia’s activity in the Arctic region: towards a polar desert?

Prepared by Anastasia Ivanova, BPS № 161

What is Arctic?

Arctic is a territory located near the Northern Pole that covers the northern parts of Eurasia and North America. Although Arctic region doesn’t contain any states, its territory divided into the sectors that belong to the countries which have access to the Arctic basin – the USA, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Russia[1]. The area is rich in the wide array of minerals and metals - gold, silver, diamonds, zinc, copper. Oil and gas are also extracted there, but data about the volume of fossil fuels varies from one agency to another. For instance, the US Geological survey shows that in 2008 Arctic contained 13 % of undiscovered oil reserves, and around 30% of natural gas[2].

Russian activity in Arctic region

Arctic region has a great economic and geostrategic meaning for Russia. To discuss the plan of Arctic development, the state organizes International Arctic forum, the last took place in April 2019. As for economic significance, statistics shows that approximately 95% of Russian gas and 75 % of oil are extracted in Arctic[3].

Talking about the oil production, the main actors are the national corporation “Rosneft”, and private companies such as “Lukoil” and “Gazpromneft”. During the 2000s, Russia was the second–largest oil producer (after Saudi Arabia). In 2012, Russia extracted around 10 million barrels per day. The list of buyers includes European markets (especially Germany and Netherlands), which take the greatest part of Russian oil, Asia and the USA. The main oil rich areas are Prirazlomnoye, Mamontovo, Priobskoe in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district (western Siberia), and Sakhalin and the Okhotsk sea[4]. As for the natural gas, in 2011 Russia exported 196 trillion cubic meters. The main productive areas are Yamano-Nenets autonomous region, and also the Urengoy, Medvezhye fields. The two-thirds of Russian gas go to Europe, whereas other part is transported to the Post-Soviet states[5].

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