With volumes seen in 2017 ESPO now substantially ranks on a par with Brent. Analysts have long said should this occur the world fuel and energy market should shift significantly in Russia’s favor.

China was Russia’s main buyer of ESPO blend oil in 2017.

ESPO (East Siberia – Pacific Ocean pipeline) is a Russian crude oil blend sold to the East Asian and US west coast markets. The ESPO Blend sold by Russian producers to Asia-Pacific refiners and international traders is priced basis FOB Port of Kozmino. Since it began exporting crude in December 2009 from the then tiny facility in the port of Kozmino, volumes and supportive infrastructure have grown dynamically.

The ESPO pipeline system is a 4,857-kilometre (3,018 mi) pipeline from Taishet-Kazachinskoye-Skovorodino-Kozmino. The 2,757-kilometre (1,713 mi) long first stage runs from Taishet to Skovorodino and the 2,100-kilometre (1,300 mi) long second stage runs from Skovorodino to the Port of Kozmino. From Skovorodino a branch pipeline extends from Mohe to Daqing, China. A 64 kilometers (40 mi) section runs from Skovorodino to the Amur River on Russia-China border and a further 992 kilometers (616 mi) long section runs from the Russia-China border to Daqing. A parallel Yakutia–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok gas pipeline is under development to flow alongside this oil pipeline.

Exports of ESPO oil from the oil port of Kozmino in 2017 amounted to 31.711 million tons. The main buyers are China - (72.9%), Japan - (12%) and South Korea – (6.8%). Other smaller quantities have been bought and shipped to Singapore - (2%), Thailand - (1.9%), Malaysia – (1.7%), United States - (1.6%), New Zealand - (0.9%), and the Philippines - (0.1%).

Via the port of Kozmino, ESPO oil is shipped; ESPO trades at a premium to Brent crude. In 2018, the plan for oil shipments through the port of Kozmino should be at least 31 million tons.

With ESPO now fully online, Russia hopes that ESPO crude will become a widely recognized new benchmark for crude, similar to WTI or Brent. This is due to increased volumes, which are now seen with the phase II ESPO pipeline reaching Vladivostok (Port of Kozmino). It is now able to supply more ESPO crude to China's east coast and other Asian nations. Declines in the North Sea output may also contribute to increased use of this new benchmark for pricing crude as well as the ability to price in currencies other that the US Dollar is seen as attractive for many in asia.

Today, the majority of oil deals on international markets are calculated from the per-barrel Brent price. However, with Brent reserves on the decline, market players are taking very seriously the Siberian ESPO brand as a possible alternative.

As output at key Brent deposits in the North Sea is dropping, and the development of new oil fields is too costly, many now believe that ESPO will become the regional crude benchmark in Asia. With volumes seen in 2017 ESPO now substantially ranks on a par with Brent. Analysts have long said should this occur the world fuel and energy market should shift significantly in Russia’s favor. Maybe 2018 is the inflection point for Russia’s ESPO.