Rosneft ships first oil from Russia’s Vostok Oil project
Russian oil company Rosneft has shipped the first batch of oil from the Vostok Oil project in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Krai. OilPrice reports. The cargo was loaded onto an Arc7 ice-class tanker flying the Russian flag at the Arctic port of Sever.
Reserves and production plans
Vostok Oil is Russia’s largest new oil project. It combines a group of fields in Krasnoyarsk Krai: some are already being developed, while others are new discoveries.
According to Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin, 2,000 wells have been drilled at the site, while the fields’ total reserves amount to approximately 7 billion tonnes of low-sulfur oil. At peak capacity, the project is expected to produce between 50 million and 100 million tonnes of oil annually.
Initial production plans called for output of 600,000 barrels per day in 2024, followed by an increase to 1 million barrels per day at the second stage and to 2 million barrels per day at the maximum level. The shipment of the first batch was also planned for 2024.
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Sanctions and logistics
Rosneft is implementing the project amid sanctions against the energy sector of the Russian Federation, an aggressor state, and the withdrawal of Western partners. In 2019, Vostok Oil was valued at the ruble equivalent of $157 billion. At that time, Rosneft’s partners were trading companies Trafigura and Vitol.
Total costs for operating the fields over their lifetime were estimated at $170 billion in 2021. Sechin stated that the project uses Russian-made drilling equipment, including top-drive systems capable of drilling wells up to 6,000 meters long.
Sechin named Asia as the main destination for supplies. At the same time, according to Bloomberg, oil from fields on the Taimyr Peninsula may also be supplied westward. The project is linked to the development of the Northern Sea Route and Russia’s Arctic transport infrastructure.
