Russia's Vostok Oil Project Finally Exports Crude After Years of Delays
Russia's Rosneft has finally begun commercial crude exports from its Vostok Oil project, after years of setbacks due to sanctions and investor exits. The first three ice-class tankers loaded with about 250,000 metric tons of crude from the Bukhta Sever terminal on the Taimyr Peninsula in September.
Two of these tankers carried the oil to Murmansk for ship-to-ship transfer, while a third headed directly to Asia through the Northern Sea Route. A fourth tanker is waiting to load with more oil. Industry sources expect exports to average around 150,000 barrels per day this year, which represents just 7.5% of the initial target of 2 million bpd for Vostok.
The initial supply is coming mainly from Rosneft's mature Vankor fields. However, development of northern fields, including Payakha, could boost exports to around 600,000 bpd by the second half of 2027 and reach 1 million bpd by 2030. The Vostok project spans 13 fields with an estimated 50 billion barrels of low-sulfur crude.
A dedicated 790-kilometer pipeline connects the development to Bukhta Sever, where Rosneft plans a 100-tank storage hub. This new export route gives Russia's oil another way out, as its Baltic and Black Sea infrastructure has been impacted by Ukrainian drone attacks.