Russian Extractive Industry at the Beginning of the 21st Century: A Regional Perspective

The article reveals the current interregional differentiation and dynamics of the extractive industry in Russia for 2005–2022. The information base for the study comprised state reports “On the State and Use of Mineral Resources of the Russian Federation.” The study used statistical, comparative geographical methods, and cartographic modeling. It is shown that at the beginning of the 21st century Russia was losing its position in the global mineral resource complex. Unlike other raw materials powers, Russia underutilizes its mineral resource potential for almost all types of minerals. A high level of regional specialization in the extraction of certain types of resources was revealed. More than 2/3 of the national production of each of the 19 types of mineral raw materials is concentrated in just one region, which makes regional economies vulnerable to global market conditions. Krasnoyarsk and Zabaykalsky krais and Murmansk oblast are distinguished by the greatest diversity of developed mineral resources. The Russian mineral resource space has undergone dynamic reformatting during the period under study. Oil and gas production has become more dispersed. Average production at the largest oil fields has fallen by almost a third, and at gas fields by 40%. The oil and gas production industry is shifting to Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, as well as to offshore areas. The use of the indicator proposed by the author—the “oil degree” of production—made it possible to quantitatively assess the degree of “cooling” of oil production conditions in 2022 compared to 2005. The production of nonferrous metals during the study period was redistributed in waves between the regions of eastern Russia. In general, the extractive industry in the 21st century has maintained the trend of moving north and east, characteristic of the entire Soviet period, with the “east” becoming increasingly easterly, and the “north” becoming increasingly northerly. Thus, the geography of resource extraction increasingly corresponds to the distribution of their reserves. The identified disproportions between mineral resource reserves and their production in regions can serve as indicators of potential shifts in the geography of the extractive industry. The regions of Eastern Siberia and Yakutia stand out in the size and diversity of underutilized resources.