Oil and gas production remain the core sector of Russia economy, which has a leading role in generating federal budget revenue and this country’s balance of trade. The factors that exerted the most significant influence on the development of the oil and gas sector of the Russian economy in 2012 were the situation on the world oil market; the situation on the European gas market; and the objective deterioration of the conditions for the extraction of oil and natural gas, which is associated with a declining production at the ‘old’ deposits and the considerably higher costs of the development of new ones, especially in unpopulated areas with no infrastructure.