KYIV: Russia has begun commercial oil exports from Rosneft’s Vostok Oil, its vast Arctic development that Moscow is counting on to lift crude production following years of delays and sanctions.
The launch comes as Russia looks for new sources of production growth after the shale boom helped propel the US past Russia to become the world’s largest crude producer.
State-controlled Rosneft started loading crude onto specialisedice-class tankers at its newly built Bukhta Sever terminal on the Taimyr Peninsula, marking the operational debut of a project once billed as capable of producing up to two million barrels per day, or around two per cent of global oil supply.
For now the exports remain far below those ambitions.
Two industry sources expectexportstoaverage about 150,000 bpd this year, with volumes largely supplied from Rosneft’s mature Vankor fields.-Reuters