Russia has made its presence felt on the global stage for the Oil & Gas industry since the 1980's when all Oil and Gas production was run by the state. Following the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Industry and production fell into decline. The Oil & Gas industry started recovering under the administration of President Putin once political stability was created and greater regulatory control was brought in. The turning point for the Oil and Gas industry in Russia was when the doors were opened to allow foreign companies to invest in the O&G industry. Russia did not just need investment but it was also in great need of the knowledge international companies would bring and their advance exploration and processing technologies to help it exploit its Oil and Gas resources.

Russia has the World's 8th largest Oil reserves and its the 2nd biggest producer of natural gas. In 2009 Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world's largest Oil exporter and in 2010 it was the only country to produce over 10 million barrels of Oil a day. Currently 65% of Russia exports comprise of Oil and Gas and 70% of all Oil production is exported with the balance for local consumption. The Oil and Gas industry in Russia generates 30% of Russia's GDP and its responsible for 60% of Russia's foreign exchange earnings.   

The Russian company Gazprom is the world's Largest natural gas producer and has the largest Gas reserves of over 18.200 billion cubic meters. Gasprom also owns the largest gas transmission system and through this it exports to over 32 countries. It's been well reported that some of Russia's neighbours have made transmitting gas through their country difficult so therefore Gasprom as a member of a consortium of 5 companies is building a € 7.8 billion euro pipeline directly into Western Europe. The Nord System pipeline will be finished in 2012 and will take Gas from Russia rich Oil fields under the Baltic sea and into Germany so therefore not passing through any other country and directly into Russia's number one market. Gazprom has a total share of 20% of the world's natural gas production.

Russia's two largest Oil companies are Rosneft and Lukoil, which have combined proven Oil reserves of over 31 billion barrels. Russia also has the world's largest oil pipeline network of over 31 000 miles this is owned and operated by state owned company Transneft. Transneft is currently building a pipeline to connect Russia to the Asian Pacific markets. The Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean Oil pipeline will bring Oil to the Asia Pacific market (China, Japan, Korea) . Currently Russia sells 6% of its Oil to the Far East and with this new pipeline it expects to increase this to 25% by 2030. Russia is the largest Oil producer from the Bric group and the largest none OPEC producer.

For more then a decade Foreign companies have been active in the Russian Oil & Gas industry the Biggest deal was done in 2003 when the UKs BP entered into a Joint Venture with Russia's TNK to form TNK - BP Holdings, which has a total proven reserve of 10.36 billion barrels. In recent years the Russian government has been looking for foreign investment to help Russia develop its Arctic region . Prime minister Putin met with executives from ExxonMobil and Shell  to seek cooperation to develop natural gas and oil fields in the Arctic region. Russia wants to offer favorable fiscal terms to potential foreign investors to try and foster joint venture partnerships with them and Russia companies. It's understood that the Russian government would like the JV partners to swap assets to help promote co-operation. Russia need the international companies know how to help it develop its promising Yamal Peninsula in Siberia.   

Russia needs to invest further in the Oil and Gas industry to ensure its continued development. It needs to improve its exploration and production techniques and to do this it needs advanced modern technology. There are tremendous opportunities through out the Russian Oil and Gas industry for Big and small companies to develop their direct business or to form Partnerships with Russian Partners.