The Arctic zone of Russia is the territory of its Extreme North, which is the largest among the Arctic states. It includes land, territorial waters and continental shelf of the seas of the Arctic Ocean. If the Arctic Circle is considered the southern boundary of the Arctic, it covers an area of over , of which almost is water. In the Russian Arctic, developed territories beyond the Arctic Circle and near it coexist with reserves of untouched nature. The territories of the following parts of Russiathe Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts, the Sakha and Komi Republics, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Regions, with a combined population of over 1 million peopleare fully or partly included in the Arctic zone.
Economic interest in the region is due to the possibilities of extracting ores and hydrocarbons. In the Russian segment of the Arctic, 20% of GDP and 22% of total exports are produced. The cost of explored and projected mineral resources exceeds 15 trillion dollars. The western sector of the Russian Arctic dominates in the exploration and production of minerals, raw materials, and fuel.
The least studied areas are the shelves of the eastern seas of the area, namely the Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas. No exploratory wells have been drilled on the shelves of these seas.
Changes in economic functions of the Arctic From the 18th and 19th centuries to the beginning of the 20th century, bioresource functions (fur and food) prevailed, the main productions were hunting and fishing. Since the 19th century, the region's transportation infrastructure developed, satisfying not only national but also global interest. Since 1930, military and defense functions have been strengthened. Currently, the mineral resource function of economy is leading.
International projects Resource and raw materials corporations form the basis of the economy of the Arctic. In the territory of the region, large-scale industrial projects are being developed and implemented, in which Gazprom, Severstal, Norilsk Nickel and others are involved.
In 2008, for development of the Shtokman gas condensate field and the Lomonosov submarine ridge, the international consortium Shtokman Development was created. 51% of its shares belong to Gazprom, 25% to the French Total and 24% to the Norwegian Statoil. Chinese and other partners are also invited, as the total capital expenditures are estimated at $250–300 billion. of gas is mined annually.
In May 2012, Rosneft and Statoil signed an agreement on cooperation for joint work on the Russian shelf of the Barents (Perseevsky section) and Okhotsk (Kashevarovsky, Lisyansky, and Magadan-1 sections) seas. In the Russian shelf projects, the Norwegian company received 33.3%. It also pays for geological exploration. In June 2012, Rosneft and Statoil agreed to work on fields with difficult oil in Russia.
In 2011–2013, agreements were concluded between Rosneft, BP, ExxonMobil and General Electric for the exploration and development of several East-Prinovozemelsky sites in the Kara Sea (total reserves of about 4.9 billion tons of oil and of gas), and plots in Western Siberia.
In May 2013, Rosneft signed an agreement with the Vietnamese company PV Oil hocks kah Dung Quất refinery in Vietnam. Supplies of oil are planned from 2014 to 2039 to a maximum of 6 million ton per year. In May 2016, Rosneft and PV Oil signed an agreement on cooperation in Russia, Vietnam and third countries in the field of oil and gas exploration, production, refining, commerce and logistics.
Since 2014 sanctions were imposed on Russian companies Rosneft and Gazprom, from countries of the European Union, Norway, the US and Canada. Therefore, interstate cooperation in the economic and technological fields in the development of resources of the Russian Arctic shelf was actually curtailed. One of the problems of resource development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is the lack of offshore installations, which leads to the transfer of most of the drilling work to foreign companies. At the same time, the interest of such countries as China, India, Vietnam in joint exploration and extraction of fuel resources of the Russian Arctic is growing.
In the mineral resource base of the Russian Arctic there are oil and gas bearing and coal-bearing fields, large and unique deposits of ferrous, non-ferrous, noble and rare metals, agrochemical ores, jewelry and ornamental stones and other types of mineral raw materials (see following table).
Economically important are field giants: coal (Urengoiskoye, Bovanenkovskoye, Yamburgskoye, Kharasaveiskoye, Samotlor, , and others) and ore (Khibiny, Lovozerskaya, Talnakhskoye, Oktyabrskoe, Tomtor, Sarylahskoe, Natalkinskoye). The Arctic regions provide about 65% of foreign exchange earnings to the state treasury and here are unlimited reserves of their increase.
+Mineral resources of the Russian ArcticGroupsTypes of raw materialsMineral resourcesFuel energetic resources solid fuel energy raw materials
liquid and gaseous fuel and energy raw materials coal, uranium, oil shale, methane in gas hydrate deposits
oil, gas condensate, combustible gases, natural bitumens Mineral resources:
metallic minerals
non-metallic mineralsblack metals
non-ferrous metals
rare and rare earth metals
noble metals
mining and chemical raw materials
mining and technical raw materials
gemstones
organic raw materials iron
manganese, titanium, chromium, vanadium, aluminum, bismuth, tungsten, copper, tin, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, mercury, antimony, lead, zinc, selenium, tellurium
beryllium, lithium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, lanthanides
gold, silver, platinum group metals
phosphate rock, apatite, mineral salts, arsenic
abrasives, barite, graphite, mica
diamonds, jeweler
mammoth bone, amber
Mineral and hydrocarbon reserves From all-Russian reserves: 40% gold, 80% oil, 50–90% gas, nickel, copper, antimony, cobalt, tin, tungsten, mercury, apatite, phlogopite, 90% chromium and manganese, 99% platinum metals, 100% indigenous diamonds and vermiculite;
From global reserves: 30% of diamonds and natural gas, 20% of nickel, 50% of apatite, 35% of niobium, 15% of copper, platinum metals and tin, 10% of oil (without shelf) and cobalt, 6 - 8% of tungsten and mercury;
- from all-Russian mining: 99 - 100% of diamonds, antimony, apatite concentrate, phlogopite, vermiculite, rare and rarely ground metals, 97% platinum, 95% gas, 90% nickel, 60–80% oil and copper.
Oil and gas The first gas production on land in the Russian Arctic began in 1969 in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory at the Messoyakhskoye field. In 1972, gas production began in the oil and gas condensate field Medvezhye, which has been transported since 1974 to the European part of Russia.
In the Arctic region at West Siberian province supplies of oil (over 70% of Russia's reserves) and natural gas (about 80%) and by the beginning of the 21st century. More than 7.5 billion tons of oil were extracted, of which 2 billion tons - from the Samotlor field. The Urengoi, Yamburgskoye, Zapolyarnoye, Kharasaveyskoye and South Tambeyskoye oil reserves, as well as the Bovanenkovskoye, Russkoye, Novoportovskoye, Sutorminskoye, Tarasovskoye, Severo-Komsomolskoye, Kharampurskoye natural gas fields, are unique in oil reserves in the North of Siberia.
Gas supergiants Bolshoy Urengoy and North Urengoyskoye (combined reserves of more than 11 trillion m3), Yamburgsko-Kharvutinskoe (reserves of over 6 trillion m3), Medveshye (2 trillion m3).
In 2012, Gazprom began developing the Bovanenkovo field, the first and largest (gas reserves are 4.9 trillion m3) on the Yamal Peninsula. The maximum design level of production will reach 115-140 billion m3. In 2014, Lukoil began the development of one of the largest oil fields of Western Siberia - Imilorsky with reserves of 190 million ton.
Hydrocarbon resources of the shelf zone of the Russian Arctic. At present, the continental shelf of the country is the only large reserve of hydrocarbon raw materials with which the prospects for the further development of the country's resource base are associated. The recoverable oil and natural gas resources of the Russian Arctic shelf amount to more than 83 billion tons, including about 13 billion tons of oil and condensate and more than 70 trillion tons m3 of natural gas. This is almost 90% of the resources of all water areas of the country.
Yurkharovskoye field (since 2003) opened in the 1970s, is located in the waters of the Taz Bay of the Kara Sea. This field is the main production asset of Novatek, which provides over 60% of gas production and about 40% of the company's liquid hydrocarbon production. Prirazlomnoye oil (since 2013) reservoir formation was discovered in 1989. It is located in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea, on the Pechora Sea shelf, 60 km from the coast. Oil reserves exceed 70 million tons. The field is being developed by Gazprom from the offshore ice-resistant stationary platform Prirazlomnoye, from which 40 inclined wells have been drilled. In 2014, over 300 thousand tons of oil was produced there. For the export of oil, Lukoil in June 2008 put into operation the Varandey stationary offshore ice-resistant offshore export terminal. Ice-resistant offshore export terminal - a unique object, operating year-round in harsh climatic conditions. It is the northernmost oil terminal in the world (69˚ 05 'N), as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. Its capacity is 12 million tons of oil per year. The terminal is located 22 km from the coast, which is connected by two threads of underwater pipelines. With the help of tankers, oil is delivered to the Murmansk region, from where it is exported.
According to the estimates of OPEC and the International Energy Agency, by 2040 the consumption of primary energy by the population of the Earth will increase compared to 2010 by 40 - 60%. At the same time, oil will still occupy a leading place in the global energy balance. In 2040, a significant proportion of oil and gas consumption will come from fields that have not yet been explored. The platinoid-copper-nickel-cobalt deposits group is represented by Norilsk-1, Talnakh and Oktyabrsky. In total, they provide 85% of proven nickel reserves in the Russian Arctic. About 15% of reserves are accounted for by the Karelian-Kola group of fields, the development of which is provided by Pechenganikel. Along the way, iridium, selenium, tellurium, ruthenium, gold, silver, sulfur, palladium are mined here. In terms of nickel reserves and production (358.4 thousand tons in 2008), produced mainly (~ 90%) in the Russian Arctic. However, reserves of rich ores Norilsk Combine (the main production facility) provided only 12 – 15 years, after which the testing of sulfide of nickel ores may become uneconomical. In this regard, the discovery of new deposits of rich ores in the Norilsk region is becoming a priority task not only of Russian, but also of world importance.
Diamonds Industrial diamond content was established in the coastal areas of the Western Arctic (White and Barents Seas ) and the South Lapland shelf areas. Their potential resources are estimated: 6.5 million carats for the White and Barents Sea shelves, 38.6 million carats for the Laptev Sea shelf. Onshore Arctic, diamond deposits are being developed in the Arkhangelsk Region and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Four kimberlite fields have been identified in the Arkhangelsk Province - Zolotnitskoe (pipe named Lomonosov, Karpinsky-1 and Karpinsky-2, Pionerskaya), Kepinsky, Melskoe and Verkhotinsky (named after named Griba). In the east of the Russian Arctic, in the Yakutsk diamondiferous province, a super-giant deposit of the Udachnaya pipe is being developed, which provides more than half of Russian diamond mining.
Metals of the platinum group