The Republic of Tatarstan Has Enough Oil Reserves to Last for 200 Years
Today, a one-percentage-point increase in the oil recovery factor could expand the recoverable reserves of Public Joint Stock Company Tatneft by an amount equivalent to the discovery of a major new oil field.
Following the lifting of production restrictions under the OPEC+ agreement, Tatneft is positioned to significantly increase oil output compared to the 27.8 million metric tons it produced in 2024. Over the past year, the company discovered two new oil fields — one in the Republic of Tatarstan and another in the Samara Region — and added more oil reserves than it produced during the same period. This information was reported by Devon News Agency during the scientific and practical conference “Tatneft – 75 Years of Continuous Development”, held in Almetyevsk on April 25, 2025.
According to company leadership, hard-to-recover oil reserves in the Republic of Tatarstan may total 6 to 7 billion metric tons. The potential resource base could be sufficient for more than 200 years, but the development of these reserves requires new and economically viable technologies.
Currently, increasing the oil recovery factor by even 1 percent could boost Tatneft’s recoverable reserves by 60 to 70 million metric tons — the equivalent of discovering a major new oil field. Given that such large discoveries are no longer being made worldwide, Tatneft is actively investing in the development of new enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. As of now, one in every four metric tons of oil produced by the company is extracted using EOR technologies.
The share of hard-to-recover oil in the region’s production continues to rise. As a result, Tatneft drills more wells than any other oil company in the Russian Federation, relative to its own production volume. At the same time, the company has succeeded in reducing drilling costs by 50 percent per well, and its operating costs are on average four times lower than the industry standard.
The company is also expanding its exploration zones and conducting deeper analysis of already developed areas. To enhance exploration efficiency, artificial intelligence, digital twin technology, and other advanced tools are being employed.
Tatneft remains one of the top five oil producers in the Russian Federation. However, the company also faces the highest tax burden compared to its industry peers. In 2024, the Tatneft Group paid 780 billion Russian rubles in taxesto budgets at all levels — an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year.
