Only 36% Of Russia’s Oil Reserves Are Profitable

Only 36 percent of Russia's recoverable crude oil reserves can turn a profit in the current market, Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said in an article for Energy Policy magazine. Russia's recoverable oil reserves stand at some 30 billion tons or 219.9 billion barrels. This means that the profitable portion comes in at about 79.16 billion barrels. This is still quite a bit of oil that can be profitable under current market conditions. However, Sorokin lists a number of technical, rather than purely economic, problems with the development of…