Recent increases in natural gas reserve estimates and advances in shale gas technology make natural gas a fuel with good prospects to serve a bridge to a low-carbon world. Russia is an important energy supplier as it holds the world largest natural gas reserves and it is the world's largest exporter of natural gas. Energy was one of the driving forces of Russia's economic recovery from the economic collapse of 1990's. The country enjoyed more that 5 percent annual real economic growth for the period of 2000-2008. The robust growth with ever increasing energy prices had contributed to a sense of a long-term economic stability in Russia. These prospects have changed drastically with a global recession, and the resulting reduction in a demand for fossil fuels, and the collapse of oil and energy prices. An additional factor is an ongoing surge in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity and a development of Central Asia's and Middle East gas supplies that can compete with Russian gas in its traditional (European) and potential (Asian) markets.