Natural gas production in Russia 2021, by company

The Moscow-based state-owned company Gazprom produced 514.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2021, being the leading natural gas company in Russia. The second-largest volume of gas was produced by Novatek, which was measured at approximately 77 billion cubic meters in the same year.

Leaders on the gas market

Russia's Gazprom, Surgutneftegas, Rosneft, and Lukoil are among the world’s 10 gas and oil companies with the highest net income. Gazprom became a public joint stock company from Gazprom State Concern in 1993. The latter was founded in 1989 as a result of the restructuring of the Soviet Gas Industry Ministry. Novatek, established in 1994 under the name AOOT FIK Novafininvest, seeks to explore liquefied natural gas fields in the Arctic region, aspiring to become a global leader in LNG production.

Sanctions on the Russian gas industry

Rosneft and Gazprom Neft have been under European Union (EU) sanctions due to the Russian annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and the violation of territorial integrity of Ukraine since 2014. Those were sectoral restrictions targeting the Russian fuel and energy complex. Gazprom, Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, Novatek, and Surgutneftegas were under the U.S. sanctions due to the same issue. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian gas companies were further targeted by sanctions. The U.S. prohibited gas imports from Russia, and EU countries announced plans to reduce their dependence on Russian gas. The certification of the pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany was put on hold.