The Barents Observer discusses how Moscow pushes for more Arctic drilling. Prime Minister Mishustin wants to tap into vast oil and gas resources on the Arctic shelf and commissions his cabinet ministers to make a plan for big drilling.
While governments and energy companies in Europe rapidly scale down investment in petroleum, the Russian side moves in the opposite direction.
The new Russian Arctic Strategy signed by President Putin on the 26th October includes big stress on hydrocarbon development, including Rosneft’s grand oil projects in the Taymyr Peninsula and Novatek’s expansion in Arctic LNG.
The document includes an ambition to produce up to 91 million tons of LNG per year by 2035 and a boost of Arctic oil production to 26 percent of total national output.
On Monday this week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin followed up with a series of instructions for his cabinet ministers.