Russia's largest energy firm. Rosneft runs Vostok Oil, a mega-project in Arctic Russia that requires 15 new towns, three airports and 3,500km of power lines, at a projected cost of $160bn. The company claims the project could produce up to 2m barrels of oil per day by the 2030s—equivalent to 2% of the world's current production. The venture has been delayed by Western sanctions.
ExxonMobil sealed tie-ups with Rosneft in the early 2010s to invest $500bn in Russia's Arctic, Black Sea and shale basins; Exxon wound down its Russian operations after 2014, when Russia's seizure of Crimea triggered Western sanctions. BP sold its stake in a local joint venture to Rosneft in 2013 after spending years wrangling with its Russian partners.
In November 2025 America imposed sanctions directly targeting Rosneft, which together with Lukoil accounts for half of Russia's crude exports.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early 2026 brought a windfall. Before the Iran war, many Indian and Chinese refiners had stopped buying Russian oil ahead of the sanctions; export volumes had slumped by a fifth. By February 2026 the Kremlin's oil-and-gas revenues were 44% lower year on year and the budget deficit in just two months hit nine-tenths of the target for the whole of 2026. After the strait closed, Russian crude became sought-after: similar in quality to most Middle Eastern oil, it was cheaper and easier for Asian refiners to process. Urals crude delivered to India, once severely discounted, was priced at a premium to Brent. However, Ukraine's relentless attacks on Russian oil facilities have forced energy firms to divert capital earmarked for new drilling towards repairs.
The meek don't want it.