This vast plain -- marshy and thinly populated in the north, hilly in the south -- is of growing economic importance, mostly due to the abundance of natural resources: oil, coal, wood, water. There are vast oilfields in the West Siberian petroleum basin, and Russia 's largest oil refinery is in Omsk. The Kuznetsk Basin around Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk is a center of coal mining, and the production of iron, steel, machinery, and chemicals. Logging is a significant industry throughout the region. Hydroelectric stations dam the Ob near Novosibirsk and Kamen - na - Obi. The navigable Ob - Irtysh watershed covers most of this area, and the southern part is also criss - crossed by the Trans - Siberian, South Siberian and Turkestan - Siberian rail lines. Agricultural products include wheat, rice, oats, and sugar beets, and livestock is raised.
siberia's economic significance is primarily due to its
abundance of natural resources: oil, coal, wood, water