The Orenburg Region is one of the largest regions of the Russian Federation. The region is located at the meeting point of Europe and Asia and is part of the Ural economic district. It borders on the Republic of Bashkortostan and Chelyabinsk Region in the north, Kazakhstan in the east and south, and Samara Region in the west. It occupies a huge territory in the Southern Pre-Urals. The region extends 750 km from west to east; its border with Kazakhstan is 1876 km long.
The western part of the region is one of Russia’s main oil and gas producing areas. Out of 195 discovered oil and gas fields, 5 have recoverable oil reserves of more than 30 million tons. Intensive exploratory drilling is being carried out, and oil reserves are increasing at a rate of 5 to 7.5 million tons annually. Recoverable hydrocarbon resources in Orenburg Region are estimated at 1665 million tons of oil, 2712 billion m3 of gas, and 258 million tons of condensate.