... estimated average cost of oil exploration in Russia reached $22 a barrel in 2010, Greenpeace said in the report, citing Energy Ministry figures. But the real costs at many new oil fields exceeded that figure significantly, the report said. The cost of extraction at Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya platform might reach $30 a barrel, which includes the platform's construction, drilling and exploitation expenditures, Greenpeace said. That figure does not include efforts to meet the necessary safety standards,...

... western Siberian oil fields by making forays into new riches in eastern Siberia and the Arctic. The decision to hand out support for the tight oil follows similar steps to facilitate offshore oil and gas production in Russia. Putin said the mineral extraction tax — the single biggest tax item — for tight oil production will total no more than 50 percent of the fee for standard oil fields. Tight oil refers to hard-to-extract oil trapped in nonporous rock. He said there are between 25 billion and...

... saying whether he is a 'good' or 'bad' guy because he is very new to the area of environmental protection," said Ivan Blokov of Greenpeace. "What I am very disappointed about is that the same ministry continues to be responsible for both the extractive industries and environmental protection," he said. The same ministry has regulated environmental protection and the extractive industries since 2001. Environmental campaigners have lobbied hard for the establishment of an independent environment...

... saying whether he is a 'good' or 'bad' guy because he is very new to the area of environmental protection," said Ivan Blokov of Greenpeace. "What I am very disappointed about is that the same ministry continues to be responsible for both the extractive industries and environmental protection," he said. The same ministry has regulated environmental protection and the extractive industries since 2001. Environmental campaigners have lobbied hard for the establishment of an independent environment...

... appointed Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich will oversee the sector. But the attention of experts was drawn immediately to Novak's background in the Finance Ministry, which has long battled to squeeze as much revenue as possible from mineral extraction and oil and gas exports for the state's coffers. "The key issue for the energy industry right now is tax reform and tariff regulation, and if [Novak] can improve the relationship with the Finance Ministry, that can only be helpful,"...

... few problems in industries where new forces had emerged or in newly-developed industries starting from zero, like information technology and textile industries. Most problems come from large-scale Soviet era industries, especially in natural resource extraction. High barriers to market entry, like the large amount of capital required, keeps many competitors from entering. Tsarikovsky said entry into international economic organizations like the WTO and the customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan...

... in the city of Norilsk, where he worked in both business and politics for 14 years. The attention of experts was drawn immediately to Novak's background in the Finance Ministry, which has long battled to squeeze as much revenue as possible from mineral extraction and oil and gas exports for the state's coffers. "The key issue for the energy industry right now is tax reform and tariff regulation, and if [Novak] can improve the relationship with the Finance Ministry, that can only be helpful,"...

... April 2010 that Medvedev would cajole Gazprom into lowering gas prices for Ukraine. It allowed some foreign players who sensed two rival centers of decision making to exploit the loopholes in Russia's system. Obama played up to Medvedev's ambitions and extracted important concessions from him on the New START treaty in long phone chats — all over Putin's head. Meanwhile, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Syrian President Bashar Assad bypassed Medvedev...

... has reserves of almost 4 trillion cubic meters, enough to meet global demand for about a year. The consortium in its present form was established in 2008 with a view toward producing 23.7 billion cubic meters of gas per year. However, the project to extract gas has been mired in prolonged and painstaking talks over billions of dollars of investment, timing and the makeup of the consortium. Shell may take the place of Statoil, Kommersant reported Friday. "Talks regarding Shell's participation...

... Gazprom has a sufficient supply of gas to deliver to its customers, even as current fields deplete and demand is projected to rise. The higher tax will not directly affect the Yamal project by Novatek and its foreign partner, France's Total. They plan to extract gas from a field there to supply it by tanker in a supercooled form called liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The government approved a holiday for the gas production tax for Yamal projects that produce exclusively LNG, designed specifically for the...

... appointment as acting Perm governor a few days earlier. The symbolic value of the meeting didn't mean the Cabinet had a lax agenda. It approved a tax maneuver that Putin touted during his campaign. The change envisages a higher tax burden on businesses that extract natural resources and those who lead a luxurious lifestyle, while providing the incentive of lower taxes in some other areas. As part of the package, the Cabinet approved steady increases of the tax on natural gas production that will affect both...

... by the appointment of Andrei Belousov as head of the Economic Development Ministry. A well-respected economist, Belousov is close to Putin but also supports the president's preferences for big state spending. In other words, the plan seems to be to extract more revenue from the natural resources sector and spend it on big state initiatives to promote diversification and growth. The massive 20 trillion ruble spending program on the military-industrial sector will be one of the main beneficiaries...

... a 12-meter-deep space in the base below the platform’s legs, where the air content can be regulated remotely to “sink” Berkut once it reaches the drilling site. The legs themselves are hollow and contain piping, through which the extracted oil will flow. The rig’s expected service life is 50 years. A spokesman for ExxonMobil declined to reveal the cost of the platform, citing “commercial secrets.” Gravity based structures, or GBS, like Berkut, are fixed concrete...

.... Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Trade Sea Port (+7 4152-43-41-00; port.kamchatka.ru ) is centrally located and open year-round. Kamchatgazprom (19 Pogranichnaya Ulitsa; +7 4152-41-00-94; gazprom.kamchatka.ru ), the local branch of energy giant Gazprom, extracts oil and gas throughout the Kamchatka region. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is surrounded by nature parks, state reserves and sanctuaries, so this small city of 179,395 has become a jumping-off point for investors and tourists eager to explore the...

... — leading to a boom in onshore infrastructure development, corresponding stress to the environment and risk of ecological disaster. "The main contamination of the world's oceans is not happening at oil rigs, or other places where oil is being extracted — the share of such spills is only about 2 percent," said Valery Tsepelev, deputy head of the northwest branch of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, or Rosgidromet. The much greater risk comes from...

... Russian port by turnover and the biggest shipping point for the export of Russian coal. Its location near some of the world's greatest energy resource reserves also promises to give the city an increasingly prominent role to play in the near future. Oil extraction in the Russian Arctic has proven technically difficult and has yet to be successfully achieved on a large scale. The first Arctic offshore drilling platform, the Prirazlomnaya platform, was tugged from Murmansk to its permanent location on...