Russia gets most of its oil from large domestic fields across Western Siberia, the Volga‑Urals region, the Timan‑Pechora basin, and newer projects in Eastern Siberia and the Arctic, and imports only a tiny amount from other countries like Kazakhstan.

Big Picture: Is Russia Importing Lots of Oil?

  • Russia is one of the world’s top oil producers and exporters, so it relies overwhelmingly on its own oil rather than foreign supplies.
  • In trade statistics for crude petroleum, Russia shows only small import volumes, mainly from nearby Kazakhstan and negligible amounts from places like the UAE, which are tiny compared with its domestic production and exports.

Main Domestic Oil Regions

Russia’s oil comes from several huge onshore basins that were developed in the Soviet era and later expanded.

  • Western Siberia : The core of Russian oil output, with giant fields like Samotlor and others that have supplied a large share of national production for decades.
  • Volga‑Urals region : One of the oldest producing areas (around Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, etc.), still contributing significantly though many fields are mature.
  • Timan‑Pechora and Northern Russia : Oil fields in the north and northwest of the country, including onshore and some offshore areas in the Barents/Arctic region.
  • Eastern Siberia and Far East : Newer fields developed to feed pipelines toward Asian markets, especially China, as flows have shifted from West to East in recent years.

Imports: Where Does the Small Extra Oil Come From?

Even major producers sometimes import specific grades or swap volumes, but for Russia this is marginal.

  • Trade data show that in 2023 Russia imported crude mainly from Kazakhstan (around tens of millions of dollars’ worth), plus token volumes from the UAE, indicating small, targeted inflows rather than large dependence.
  • These imports can be related to logistical swaps, blending needs, or refinery optimization, not to structural reliance on foreign crude.

Why This Matters in Current News

  • Since 2022, sanctions and price caps have pushed Russia to redirect its exports from Europe toward Asia, especially China and India, while its domestic production base (Siberia, Volga‑Urals, etc.) remains the source of that oil.
  • Discussions on “where Russia gets its oil” in forums and news often really mean “where Russia sends its oil now,” but the origin is still primarily those long‑established Russian fields.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.