Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin delivers a speech at the opening of the VI Russia-China Energy Business Forum in Moscow

Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of oil supplies is unique for Eurasia, said Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin speaking at the opening of the VI Russia-China Energy Business Forum in Moscow on July 23.

"Last year, trade turnover between our countries grew by 26 per cent to $240 billion, significantly exceeding the target of $200 billion. Russia's exports of mineral fuels to China accounted for $95 billion of this total. The scale of Russian-Chinese cooperation in oil supplies is unparalleled in Eurasia," said Igor Sechin.

Last year, Russia exported 107 million tonnes of oil to China. Also last year, China imported 34 billion cubic metres of natural gas and more than 100 million tonnes of coal from Russia.

According to Rosneft CEO, the next stage in the development of the Russia-China relations should be aimed at strengthening cooperation along the entire value chain in energy and related areas, including the development of advanced technologies, machine building, modern shipbuilding, industrial equipment supplies, alternative energy, emission reduction and R&D.

During his speech at the opening of the VI Russia-China Energy Business Forum, Igor Sechin noted that cooperation between Russia and China is developing under unprecedented external pressure and that Western countries have overestimated the effectiveness of their pressure on the strong potential of the Russian and Chinese economies. 

The Russian economy has successfully overcome external challenges and demonstrated a high degree of adaptability in the face of unprecedented sanctions pressure from the West. The reorganisation of logistics routes to Asia-Pacific markets and stable oil exports have played a major role in ensuring the sustainability of the Russian economy, Sechin noted.

"China's continued economic growth means a growing need for reliable and secure energy supplies. In particular, the IEA estimates that China's consumption of liquid hydrocarbons will grow by 9 per cent by 2030," Igor Sechin said. He added that Russian companies are ready to contribute to the issue of China's energy security and energy consumption.

In the first six months of this year, Russia's energy exports to China totalled about $46 billion, up 4% year-on-year, Igor Sechin said. "As a result, Russia provided almost 20% of China's energy imports in terms of value. In 2021 this indicator was only 13%," he stressed.

Igor Sechin noted the safety and reliability of supplies of Russian oil and other energy resources to China. Over the past two and a half years, Russia has significantly increased its oil exports to China, allowing it to become the country's main oil supplier, ahead of Saudi Arabia. In the first half of this year alone, Russia's oil supplies to China grew by 5% and exceeded 55 million tonnes.

“I would like to note that the strengthening of energy security and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries could be facilitated by China’s direct investments in Russian energy and related industries, in which attractive opportunities arise for our partners today,” said the head of Rosneft.

According to him, “such investments could create a significant synergistic effect, because Russia is one of the few countries that consistently invests in the development of traditional energy, and China over the past few years has turned from an importer into an exporter of capital.”

According to Igor Sechin, one of the promising areas of potential cooperation is the development of Arctic resources, where the Northern Sea Route project, the shortest route for delivering our energy resources to Asia, is now actively developing.

While speaking at the opening of the VI Russia-China Energy Business Forum, Igor Sechin also said that current changes in the global economy and politics are leading to a decline in the role of the US dollar in global trade, and urged to create infrastructure to increase trade in national currencies.