The Russian economy, which had averaged 7% growth during 1998-2008 as oil prices rose rapidly. Russia was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. Slowly declining oil prices over the past few years and the difficulty attracting foreign direct investment have contributed to a noticeable slowdown in GDP growth rates. In late 2013, the Russian Economic Development Ministry reduced its growth forecast through 2030 to an average of only 2.5% per year, down from its previous forecast of 4.0 to 4.2%. in 2014, following Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, prospects for economic growth declined further, with expectations that GDP growth could drop as low as zero. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Russia held the world's largest natural gas reserves, with 1688 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Russia's reserves account for about a quarter of the world's total proven reserves. Russia's economy grew slower than analysts forecast last year, ecpanding at the weakest pace since a 2009 contraction agter record oil prices failed to offset $56.8 billion of net capital outflows and investment sagged. Gross domestic product expanded 3.4 percent in 2012, down from 4.3 percent a year earlier. That missed the 3.6 percent median forecast of 18 analysts in a Bloomberg survey and the Economy Ministry's estimate of 3.5 percent. The state-run Gazprom dominates Russia's upstream, producing about 74% of Russia's total natural gas output. Gazprom also controls most of Russia's gas reserves, with more than 65% of proven reserves being directly controlled by the company and additional reserves being controlled by Gazprom in joint ventures with other companies. While independent producers have gained importance, with producers such as Novatek and LUKoil contributing increasing volumes to Russia's production in recent years, upstream opportunities remain fairly limited for independent producers and other companies, including Russian oil majors.
