Round Natural Gas Exports via Arctic’s Northern Sea Route

The driving force behind this development is the long-term thinning of Arctic ice. While the decline in ice cover raises environmental concerns, it has also created new maritime trade lanes, namely the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route. These routes now allow non-icebreaker class vessels to navigate through, offering a shorter alternative to the more circuitous Panama and Suez Canal routes further south.

Between 1979 and 2020, the average sea ice extent in the Arctic decreased by a surface area equivalent to that of Greenland, as reported by the Journal of Operational Oceanography.

In recent years, the Russian government has made substantial investments in developing ports, bunkering facilities, and icebreakers to take advantage of the increasing traffic along the northern frontier. Novatek, meanwhile, has been establishing numerous LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants in the Arctic region over the past decade to cater to customers in Asia.

Shipping through the Arctic also provides Russia with access to abundant natural resources, including natural gas, oil reserves, and high-value minerals, which are crucial for the country’s economy.

The Russian Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East has reported a significant increase in freight traffic along the Northern Sea Route, from 4 million tonnes in 2014 to 34 million tonnes in 2022. Furthermore, Russia has plans to expand the route’s capacity to 100 million tonnes by 2026 and 200 million tonnes by 2030.

China has also been exploring potential Arctic routes that could offer a shorter passage to Europe compared to the more traditional Suez Canal route.