Аннотация:The issue of studying the possibilities of involving accumulations associated with high-carbon shale complexes, which are widespread in Russia, in industrial development is related both to the system of benefits provided by the Government of the Russian Federation for the development of low-permeability strata and special licensing conditions for geological exploration. The achievements in developing a methodology for estimating reserves and placing a whole series of fields with recorded oil deposits in the domanic deposits of the Volga-Ural NGP on the state balance sheet also had a significant effect. There are several approaches to the assessment of hydrocarbons that have been preserved (not emigrated) in oil and gas-source, low-permeable strata after generation and separation from the initial OM and the rock matrix. Two of them, which allow us to assess the potential of the main high-carbon strata common in Russia, are discussed in this study. For the main high-carbon shale formations in Russia, the assessment of recoverable resources of oil amounted to 40 billion tons, gas-29.0 trillion m3.