Natural Gas as a Resource for Ensuring Russia’s National and Environmental Security

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to an increase in the production of liquefied natural gas, unlike oil, which has a tendency to reduce production due to the fact that the gas industry is considered more efficient and attractive in terms of creating added value. The subject of the research is the processes of transformation of the main directions of development of the Russian gas market. The purpose of the work is to establish the possibility of diversifying gas supplies to the east. It was found that over the period 2010–2023, the share of old gas production areas —Nadym-Pur-Taz and Volga-Ural — decreased by 29.4 percentage points and the share of new proven reserves of “blue fuel” — Yamal-Gydan and the Caspian Sea shelf increased. Production on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas increased the most due to the commissioning of three large fields: Utrennoye, Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye and Bovanenkovsky. It is predicted that the importance of natural gas (along with oil and petroleum products), one of the key sources of foreign exchange earnings, will remain for a long time: by 2030, the value of gas exports from Russia will increase by 12.4% to 57.6 billion US dollars, and the share in total supplies will decrease by 12.3 percentage points to 10.3%. It is concluded that, despite the geopolitical circumstances and the sanctions imposed against our country, gas supplies for export will remain stable until 2050, and in some areas will exceed thelevel of 2019, while the accumulated reserves and potential resources of natural gas are sufficient until 2050 for its reasonable use within the country and for export.