Coal mining in Russia's Kemerovo region

American politicians and energy analysts often refer to the United States as "the Saudi Arabia of coal” since the U.S. has 245 billion metric tons of coal reserves. At the current rate of consumption (1 billion metric tons per year), this means that the U.S. has over 200 years supply.

With 157 billion metric tons, Russia has the second largest coal reserves in the world (China has the third largest with 114 billion metric tons). According to the UK-based World Coal Institute, in 2005 Russia produced 222 million metric tons of coal, or nearly one quarter of the U.S. level.

Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Energy reported that Russian mines surpassed last year’s total in September 2006. Coal consumption for Russian power generation was up by 4.3% between 2005 and 2006, but coal still lags far behind gas as the preferred fuel for new generating plants.

Russian coal mining is concentrated in regions served by the Trans-Siberian Railway, with the Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk regions accounting for the bulk of the nation’s production.

For more detailed information on this topic, check out the reports issued by:

Argus Media Russian Coal Report
Coal International Russian
Mining Report
EU-Russia Dialogue on Clean Coal Technologies
Finam Investment Company
Russian Mining magazine