Rosneft

Rosneft is Russia's largest oil producer and one of the world's biggest publicly traded oil companies by reserves. The Russian state holds a controlling stake through Rosneftegaz, with BP retaining a 19.75% shareholding. On 16 April 2026, OFAC redesignated Rosneft onto the SDN list, closing the loophole created by the expiry of General Licence 134A and ending the transitional period during which Western entities could wind down energy transactions without penalty. The redesignation is estimated to affect approximately million of daily Russian oil trade routed through Western payment systems.

Rosneft was founded in its current form in 1993 and became the centrepiece of the Kremlin's resource-nationalist strategy after the forced acquisition of Yukos assets in 2004. Under CEO Igor Sechin, a close Putin associate, it has expanded aggressively across upstream, refining, and trading. Rosneft's largest customers are Indian and Chinese refiners, who absorbed the bulk of the redirection from European buyers after 2022 sanctions. The company operates over 40 refineries in Russia and holds stakes in projects in Venezuela, Vietnam, and Iraq.

The SDN redesignation creates immediate compliance obligations for any non-US person conducting transactions with Rosneft if those transactions touch the US financial system. Indian and Chinese importers operating in dollars must now seek alternative settlement currency, adding transaction costs and potential delays to the 4-5 million Barrels Per Day that Rosneft exports.