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EIA: Russia diversifying energy production

Net production down from 1980s peaks.

By Daniel J. Graeber

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Russia is looking to develop energy in hard-to-reach areas as legacy production falls from its peak, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found.

EIA said Russia typically depends on oil and gas fields in West Siberia. Production there has fallen from peak production levels in the 1980s and companies like Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are looking at new prospects.

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Last year, Russia was the largest producer of crude oil and condensate and the second-largest producer of natural gas. Oil production in 2013 increased 1.3 percent and gas by 2.1 percent.

"However, new technologies, growing Asian markets, and Western sanctions have the potential to shift the regional balance of Russian oil and natural gas production in the long term," EIA said.

Last week, Russian oil company Gazprom Neft said it reached a milestone with the production of its 1 millionth barrel of oil from the arctic Prirazlomnoye field.

In June, the Russian government said investments in the oil industry in the eastern part of the country are expected to grow by more than $1 trillion.

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