Rosneft is a Russian integrated energy company and one of the world's largest publicly traded petroleum companies, specializing in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum and natural gas. The company is controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company. Its name is a portmanteau of the Russian words Rossiyskaya neft, meaning "Russian oil".
Rosneft was established as a state enterprise in 1993 by Government Decree No. 357, and then incorporated in September 1995 as an open joint-stock company. It was created to manage the oil and gas assets that remained under state ownership following the privatization of the industry in the 1990s, serving as the centralized oil holding and successor to the Soviet Union's Ministry of Oil Industry. A key mechanism in its growth was the acquisition of assets from the former oil company Yukos and the purchase of OJSC TNK-BP in 2013, which made it one of the world's largest oil and gas companies.
For an informed Indian reader, Rosneft is closely connected to the Indian energy sector, particularly through its significant ownership stake in Nayara Energy (formerly Essar Oil), where it holds 49.13%. Rosneft has historically been a major supplier of Russian crude oil to Indian refiners, including state-run companies like Indian Oil and private refiners like Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy.
The company's operations have recently been impacted by international geopolitics, as the United States imposed sanctions on Rosneft and other Russian entities. This development, which occurred around October 2025, led to a change in the mechanism of supply, with some Indian refiners, like Reliance Industries, reportedly weighing a suspension of direct Russian crude imports from sanctioned entities. However, Rosneft continued to be a top Russian crude supplier to India despite the sanctions, with new, lesser-known traders emerging to fill the gap. A significant, though temporary, change in supply volumes was seen in April 2026, when Nayara Energy's imports dropped sharply due to a planned 35-day maintenance shutdown at its Vadinar refinery, an operational, not strategic, development.