With the “Vankor–Payakha–Sever Bay Pipeline,” Russia is pushing ahead with one of the largest energy projects in the High North. The roughly 770-kilometer-long pipeline is part of Rosneft’s Vostok Oil project and is intended to transport crude oil from Arctic production areas to a new export terminal on the Kara Sea. From there, onward shipment via the Northern Sea Route is planned.
Construction is taking place in an extremely sensitive region. The pipeline runs through permafrost areas that are becoming increasingly unstable as a result of climate change. Experts warn of ground subsidence and damage to the pipeline, which could promote leaks. An oil spill in this remote region would be difficult and slow to control.
The use of tracked off-road vehicles in the Taimyr tundra during the summer months is even explicitly prohibited under current Russian legislation.
Even the construction phase is already leaving clear traces in the tundra. Satellite images show wide clearings, construction roads, and compacted soils. In the Arctic, nature regenerates only very slowly, meaning that such interventions can have long-term consequences for water systems and ecosystems.
The project is also controversial in terms of climate policy. The pipeline creates new export capacities for fossil fuels—and thus infrastructure that is likely to be used for decades. Critics see this as a contradiction to global climate goals, while Rosneft points to economic development and comparatively efficient production.
The pipeline therefore stands as a symbol of a fundamental conflict between economic and geopolitical interests on the one hand, and environmental and climate protection on the other.
Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal