The 6 Biggest Russian Energy Companies

Russia ranks high among the top energy-producing countries in the world. According to the most recent industry data available, Russia is the world's single biggest producer of crude oil, the second-biggest producer of natural gas and the sixth-biggest producer of coal. Russia also ranks as the fourth-biggest producer of both nuclear power and hydropower.

Most of Russia's biggest energy companies, including global giants such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, operate primarily in the oil and gas industry, with interests spanning the full length of the oil and gas supply chain. However, a hydroelectric power company, RusHydro, also makes a showing on this list of Russia's biggest energy companies by market capitalization.

Gazprom is Russia's biggest energy company by a substantial margin. The company controls the largest natural gas reserves in the world, from which it produced more than 2.6 billion barrel of oil equivalents (BOE) in 2014, accounting for 72% of Russia's total gas output for the year. Oil production amounted to about 257 million barrels. Additionally, Gazprom's gas turbine power plants account for about 15% of Russia's installed power generating capacity. Gazprom is ultimately controlled by the Russian government, which holds just over 50% of the company's outstanding shares. Its market capitalization is nearly $50.5 billion.

Rosneft is Russia's biggest oil producer, accounting for more than 40% of total output in 2014. The company reported production of more than 1.5 billion barrels, more than double the production of its closest competitor, Lukoil. Rosneft also produced over 345 million BOE of natural gas, making it the third-largest gas producer in the country. Rosneft has a market capitalization of more than $41 billion. Nearly 70% of its outstanding shares are held by the Russian state.

Lukoil produced about 707 million barrels of oil and more than 92 million BOE of natural gas in 2014 to place it firmly in the top tier of Russian energy giants. Like Gazprom and Rosneft, Lukoil controls large gas and oil reserves inside Russia in addition to substantial operations outside the country. Although the company's power generation assets have grown substantially in recent years, it accounts for less than 1% of the country's installed generation capacity. Lukoil has a market capitalization of more than $28.3 billion.

Although Surgutneftegas has no substantial business operations outside Russia, it ranks among the world's largest 250 companies in any industry. It reported production of about 447 million barrels of oil and more than 55 million BOE of natural gas in 2014. The company also maintains a power generation business primarily to produce electricity for its own oil and gas production and processing operations. Surgutneftegas has a market capitalization of over $19.2 billion.

Tatneft is another integrated oil and gas company with primary operations focused on the domestic market. It is a far smaller producer than its Russian rivals, reporting production of about 193 million barrels of oil and about 5.5 million BOE of natural gas in 2014. Tatneft's production and refining operations are focused in Tatarstan, a republic in the Russian Federation. Roughly 36% of the company's outstanding shares are held by the Tatarstan government. Tatneft has a market capitalization of more than $10.6 billion.

RusHydro is the biggest hydroelectric power company in the Russian utilities industry. As of 2014, the company has a total installed electricity generation capacity of about 38.5 gigawatts, just less than Gazprom's 39 gigawatts of installed capacity. RusHydro also has ongoing wind, tidal and geothermal energy projects, many of which are still in the research and development phase. The Russian state holds nearly 67% of outstanding shares in RusHydro. The company has a market capitalization of nearly $3.5 billion.