The Gazprom group began full-scale oil production at the Chonskaya group of fields located in Eastern Siberia at the end of May. These fields have long been considered economically unviable for development due to their remoteness and complex geological conditions.
This is reported by Finway
Oil Production and Export Prospects
The Chonskaya group consists of three licensed areas, which are being developed by Gazprom Neft. Once the complex reaches full design capacity, it is planned to supply up to 2 million tons of oil annually to the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean pipeline system. The total geological reserves of oil in these fields are estimated at over 1.3 billion tons, equivalent to 9.5 billion barrels.
“After the loss-making years of 2023 and 2024 and a slight profit increase in 2025, Gazprom is trying to demonstrate new growth points by announcing the launch of oil production at the Chonskaya group of fields in Eastern Siberia,” reported the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service. — “The project is viewed by the Kremlin as one of the elements of further reorienting Russian oil exports to Asian markets.”
It took about two years to build the main production infrastructure for the launch of new extraction. However, according to Ukrainian intelligence estimates, the new asset in the scale of Russia’s oil sector remains relatively insignificant: the expected production volume reaches only 2 million tons per year, while the total annual oil production in the Russian Federation exceeds 500 million tons.
From Trends to Forecasts: The Future of Russia’s Oil Industry
Ukrainian intelligence emphasizes that the launch of new facilities in Eastern Siberia does not change the overall situation: easily accessible oil resources in Russia are gradually depleting. Further increases in production will require significant investments, tax incentives, and modern technologies, access to which for Russia is increasingly restricted by sanctions and technological barriers.
According to reports, the share of hard-to-extract oil in the production structure in Russia has sharply increased and has already reached 63% over the past year. The forecast for 2035 anticipates an increase in this figure to 83% of the total volume of oil produced.
The Ministry of Economic Development of Russia predicts a further decline in oil production in 2026 — this will be the fourth consecutive year of declining indicators, and production is expected to fall to its lowest level in the last 17 years.