Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) is about to become a game-changer for Eurasian energy trade, and Europe’s January 2027 ban on Russian LNG is pushing Moscow to bring it to life sooner than planned. LNG will remain its foundation, while crude traffic and Rosneft’s vast Vostok Oil project could provide far greater scale.
For Russia, the prize is a shorter route to Asian customers that avoids foreign-controlled chokepoints and increases Moscow’s command over export infrastructure. However, the route’s seasonal availability…