The Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is the territory of the Extreme North, which is the largest among the Arctic states. It includes the land part, water area and continental shelf of the seas of the Arctic Ocean. If we take the Arctic Circle as the southern boundary of the Arctic, it covers an area of over 9 million km^2, of which almost 7 million km^2 is in the water area. In the Russian Arctic, territory mastered by man beyond the Arctic Circle and near it, as well as reserves of untouched nature, coexist. The territories of the following subjects of the Russian Federation - the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk regions, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Districts, the Komi Republic with a population of over 1 million people - are fully or partly included in the Arctic zone.
The economic interest in the region is due to the possibilities of extracting ores and hydrocarbons. In the Russian segment of the Arctic, 20% of GDP and 22% of total exports are produced . The cost of explored and projected mineral resources exceeds 15 trillion dollars. The Western sector of the Arctic Polar Region of the Russian Federation dominate in the exploration and production of mineral raw materials and fuel.
The least studied remain the shelf areas of the seas of the eastern sector of the Arctic - Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi. No exploratory well has been drilled on the shelf of the seas of the east of the Russian Arctic.
Changes of economic's functions of the Arctic
• 18-19 centuries to the beginning of the 20th century bioresource functions (fur and food) prevailed , the main productions were hunting and fishing.
• Since 19 century occurred developed transport function, satisfying not only a national , but also world's interest.
• Since 1930 being strengthened military and defense functions.
• Currently, the mineral resource function of economy is leading.
Economic international projects
Resource and raw materials corporations form the basis of the economy of the Arctic. On the territory of the region, large-scale industrial projects are being developed and implemented, in which Gazprom, Severestal, Norilsk Nickel and others are involved.
In 2008 for development in the Shtokman gas condensate field and the Lomonosov submarine ridge international consortium Shtokman Development was created. 51% of the shares belong to Gazprom, 25% to the French Total and 24% to the Norwegian Statoil. Chinese and other partners are also invited, as the total capital expenditures are estimated at $250–300 billion. 22 billion m3 of gas is mined annually.
In May 2012, Rosneft and Norwegian company Statoil signed an agreement on cooperation for joint work on the Russian shelf of the Barents (Perseevsky section) and Okhotsk (Kashevarovsky, Lisyansky, Magadan-1 sections) seas. In the Russian shelf projects, the Norwegian company received 33.3%. It also pays for geological exploration. In June 2012, Rosneft and Statoil agreed to work on fields with difficult oil in Russia.
In 2011–2013 agreements have been concluded between Rosneft, BP, Exxon Mobil and General Electric for the exploration and development of several East-Priovozemelsky sites in the Kara Sea (total reserves of about 4.9 billion tons of oil and 8.3 trillion m3 of gas), and plots in Western Siberia.
In May 2013, Rosneft has signed with the Vietnamese company PV Oil agreement hocks kah oil refinery Dung-Kuat in Vietnam. Supplies of oil are planned from 2014 to 2039 to a maximum of 6 million ton per year. In May 2016, Rosneft and PV Oil signed an agreement on cooperation in Russia, Vietnam and third countries in the field of oil and gas exploration , production , refining, commerce and logistics.
Since 2014 sanctions were imposed on Russian companies Rosneft and Gazprom, from countries of the European Union, Norway, the USA and Canada. Therefore, interstate cooperation in the economic and technological fields in the development of resources of the Russian Arctic shelf was actually curtailed. One of the problems of resource development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is the lack of offshore installations, which leads to the transfer of most of the drilling work to foreign companies. At the same time, the interest of such countries as China, India, Vietnam in joint exploration and extraction of fuel resources of the Russian Arctic is growing.