The regulation of petroleum exploration and production in Russia

Russia is handsomely endowed with petroleum reserves. As of 2018, Russia holds proved oil reserves of 14.6 billion barrels (b/bbl) or 6.1 per cent of global reserves, ranking it among the top six proved reserves in the world. In addition, holding 1,375 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proved gas reserves, Russia has the largest global gas reserves. There has been a long history of petroleum production in Russia, commencing during the late Tsarist period with oil production from the Baku region. During this period, Russia was one of the top global exporters, with the Russian state exercising direct control over production through ownership of all the resources. This altered in 1872 with the auctioning off of state-owned land, placing petroleum-producing land in the hands of private landholders, and led to a rapid increase in production. During the Soviet era, all petroleum ownership and operations were nationalised, which led to a 60-fold growth in oil production from 10 million tons in 1917 to over 600 million tons in the 1980s. In the period 1928–1939, rapid industrialisation occurred under Stalin’s five-year plans, laying the foundations for strong growth in petroleum production in the post-war era. After 1945, exploration and production (E&P) gradually shifted from the Caucus/Baku region to the Volga-Ural region, and from 1965 to Western Siberia.