Difficulties in exporting oil and LNG along the Northern Sea Route: the problem is not sanctions

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Neft and Capital Internet portal on the prospects for increasing cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route.

"The cargo flow on the NSR will be determined by the cargoes that have the best transport optimality for Russia. First of all, it will be what comes directly from the Arctic zone — hydrocarbons, or rather, oil and liquefied natural gas.

Of the oil for supplies along the Northern Sea Route, it is most expedient to supply the ARCO grade, which is produced in the Prirazlomnoye field. As for gas, this is LNG from the Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2 projects. It is clear that in the case of Yamal LNG, almost half of the gas is now flowing in the European direction, but still it was originally intended to work on the NSR," Alexey Gromov explained.

The expert believes that in the future, the basis of the entire cargo flow of the Northern Sea Route by tonnage will be the transportation of oil and LNG. Coal in this regard will be of little interest due to the high cost of delivery, because it will also need icebreaking vessels. For this type of energy resource, it is more important to use the deep-sea ice-free port Lavna, located on the western shore of the Kola Bay, opposite Murmansk.