Rosatom is working with oilmen to redirect supplies from the Baltic to the Northern Sea Route

“Rosatom» together with oil companies, is working on the issue of redirecting supplies of Russian raw materials from the Baltic ports to the east along the Northern Sea Route (Northern Sea Route, NSR). This was stated by the CEO of the state corporation Alexei Likhachev at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Now we, together with Russian companies, are working on the issue of redirecting Russian oil from the Baltic ports to the NSR, as the safest and most attractive route,” leads his words “Interfax”.

According to the Director General of Rosatom, the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russian oil “opened a new window of opportunity” for an additional cargo base on the NSR. At the end of 2023, the cargo traffic, according to the plan, should be 36 million tons, Likhachev added.

Northern Sea Route with a length of 5600 km runs from Murmansk to Vladivostok along the Russian coast of the seas of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Navigation in the eastern sector of the Northern Sea Route (from Taimyr to the Bering Strait) is impossible in winter without icebreaking assistance, the ice thickness there reaches 3 m. In 2021, the cargo traffic on the NSR amounted to 34.9 million tons. up to 1627 per year, and cargo traffic increased by 11%. In 2022, 34 million tons of cargo were transported along the NSR.

Earlier, Vladimir Panov, special representative of Rosatom for the development of the Arctic, said that the volume of cargo transportation along the NSR in 2035 will exceed the target of 50 million tons and will amount to 270 million tons. The number of cargo flights along the NSR will increase from 1747 planned in 2024 to 3381 in 2030 and 3895 in 2035. By 2030, the number of ships of the high Arctic class, which will provide year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

In 2022, the global oil and gas market came under pressure due to the tightening of anti-Russian sanctions. From December 5, 2022, an embargo on offshore oil supplies from Russia to the EU began to operate, as well as a price ceiling of $60 per barrel. From February 5, 2023, similar measures were introduced for petroleum products (the price limit is $100/bbl for more expensive products, such as diesel fuel, and $45/bbl for cheaper products, such as fuel oil).