RN-Vankor, a unit within Rosneft’s expansive oil and gas production complex, has initiated the underwater section of the main oil line along the Yenisei River as part of the expansive Vostok Oil project. The Tochino production base sits roughly 60 kilometers from Dudinka, serving as a logistical hub and staging ground for equipment, crew, and critical materials. This operational update comes directly from the oil company’s press service, underscoring the scale and pace of activity as the project moves from planning to on‑the‑ground execution.
The trenchless crossing planned for this segment will extend 5.8 kilometers, threading along the riverbed to become a pivotal element of the 770-kilometer Vankor-Paiyakha-North Gulf oil corridor. The design emphasizes uninterrupted flow, reduced surface disruption, and enhanced resilience to seasonal river dynamics. This corridor is envisioned to connect multiple production zones with export infrastructure, enabling tighter integration of the northern Arctic assets with downstream refining and shipping routes.
For the crossing, special pipes weighing 16 tons apiece have been chosen for their durability and compatibility with the riverine environment. These heavy-duty sections are engineered to withstand hydraulic forces, sediment movement, and potential ice impacts, while maintaining the integrity of the underwater seam. The selection reflects a careful balance between structural safety, long-term reliability, and the logistical realities of offshore installation in a remote Siberian setting.
Rosneft notes that the construction technology and all materials used for the crossing are manufactured domestically within Russia, reinforcing the project’s emphasis on local industrial capability and supply chain sovereignty. In developing the transport system, the project team leveraged practical know-how derived from pipelines built within the Vankor cluster, ensuring a grounded knowledge base informs every stage of construction. This approach aims to accelerate timelines while maintaining stringent safety and environmental standards in a region with sensitive ecosystems and challenging winter conditions.
The Tochino area was selected for the study because it contains the river’s narrowest segment within the project’s footprint, measuring about 2.5 kilometers. A portion of the line will extend into the coastal zone as the Yenisei broadens during the flood season, requiring meticulous timing, precise dredging windows, and adaptive scheduling to minimize ecological impact and ensure uninterrupted construction progress.
Current operations report that dredging for trenching the main pipeline have reached completion, with twenty-five vessels contributing to the effort. The next phase involves laying the pipelines into the trench along the river bottom, a milestone that consolidates engineering planning with field execution and marks a tangible advancement toward the project’s broader objectives. Continuous monitoring and quality control will accompany this phase to address sediment dynamics and ensure seamless integration with adjacent pipeline segments.
Looking ahead to the following summer, dredging will resume for the reserve pipeline to bolster system redundancy and reliability. This ongoing preparation is designed to safeguard continuous production and export capabilities, even in the face of seasonal hydrological variation, ice movement, and potential maintenance windows. The extended planning horizon reflects a commitment to enduring performance and resilient infrastructure for the Vostok Oil project and its integration into Russia’s northern energy framework.
The company also announced an expansion of the construction camp, increasing the footprint to 520 locations within the Tochino base area. This expansion underscores the scale and pace of activity associated with this phase of the Vostok Oil initiative, highlighting workforce growth, increased logistical complexity, and the need for robust on-site support services to sustain operations in a remote Arctic environment (source: Rosneft press materials).”