Russia’s Northern Sea Route Workaround Supplying Asian Buyers
Saudi Crude Exports Hit Five-Month High as Production Falls to Record Low With over two decades of journalistic experience working in newspapers, trade publications and as a mining reporter, Andrew Topf is a seasoned writer specializing in… Asia-bound Russian crude and fuel supplies are being rerouted as the US-Israeli war on Iran and disruptions in the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab choke off traditional crude flows from the Persian Gulf.
Indeed, Russia increased oil and LNG shipments via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and utilized shadow fleets to bypass chokepoints and fulfill Asian demand.
Reuters reportsthat Russia’s oil exports through its NSR in 2026 have already exceeded last year’s by nearly 50%, with 20 million barrels shipped to Asia from the July to mid-October navigation window, when Arctic sea ice is at its annual minimum.
Traders say the volume of Russian oil exported through the Arctic route is expected to rise by another 5-10 million barrels by the end of the navigation period.
Russia shipped 13 million barrels during the last navigation season.
While the 13,947-kilometer-route is considerably shorter than the Suez route’s 20,921 km, it is also more expensive and dangerous.
This year the NSR has become more attractive due to disruptions to routes via the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea.
The Arctic waterway offers a path free from Western inspections, detentions, and port restrictions for Russian oil exporters and its aging "shadow fleet".
Navigating the top of the world cuts travel time to markets like China and India by up to two weeks compared to the Suez Canal route.
New domestic energy projects in northern Russia — such as Rosneft's Vostok Oil and expanded Arctic LNG operations — are actively pumping and shipping larger volumes directly into Asian supply chains.
Meanwhile, tanker freight rates have surged to record highs as supertankers face bottlenecks and delays (such as ship-to-ship transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz).
Record-high freight costs are changing the behavior of Asian buyers who are increasingly using smaller tankers and shipsunder long-term charter deals to pick crude oil supply.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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