Most of the country’s economic development base and mooring lines to the market economy were provided by both Russia’s large heavy industrial tool and by the Russian Federation’s immense subterranean wealth. From steel to aluminum and heavy machineries to aeronautics, Russia has a long history of industrial excellence, featuring extra-large production capacities and a recognized technological and scientific know how. But the real catalyst of the country’s fast recovery from the abysses of the early 1990s has been its natural resources, from precious metals to diamonds, coal, industrial minerals and, above all, hydrocarbons. Oil production seems to have reached a plateau, triggering comments on the complacency of the Russian energy sector, which has been pampered by high oil prices during the past three years. Nevertheless, the Russian Federation is sitting on the world’s largest gas reserves (1,680 trillion cubic feet or one-third of the global total) and oil reserves total 51 billion barrels.