An Analysis of Factors Determining the Level of Natural-Gas Extraction in the North of Tyumen' Oblast

The absence of a long-term program of development of the Tyumen' gas fields is noted, and more intensive development is urged on the following grounds: the availability of large predicted reserves and the relatively low cost of proving these reserves compared with the cost of geological exploration in the deeper gas fields of European Russia; the need for gas as a fuel and chemical raw material in the Siberian economy; prospects of reducing steel-pipe, labor and investment requirements for development of the gas industry as a result of automation and technical progress. An annual output level of one trillion cubic meters a year is urged. The required investment is estimated at 50 billion, rubles. In view of predicted higher gas prices (15 to 20 rubles per 1000 cubic meters) and low operating costs (3.4 rubles), the annual return on investment at a trillion-cubic-meter production level would be about 13 billion rubles.