MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. The economic effect for China from purchases of oil in Russia, not the Middle East, since January 2022 has reached $14-18 bln, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, Executive Secretary of the Commission for the Russian President on the strategy of development of the fuel and energy industry Igor Sechin said.

"China is a major purchaser of Russian oil. According to our estimates, the economic effect for China from import of Russian oil compared with purchases from Middle Eastern suppliers from January 2022 to June 2024 totals from $14 bln to $18 bln," he told a forum.

That said, Moscow is considering various options of boosting oil supplies to China, including via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Sechin added.

"Today various options to boost supplies of Russian oil to China, including via the Northern Sea Route, are under consideration," he said.

Russia seriously boosted oil export to China over the past 2.5 years, which enabled it to become the main supplier to the country, outpacing Saudi Arabia, Rosneft’s chief executive noted. In the first half of this year alone Russian oil supplies to China added 5% and exceeded 55 mln tons, he stressed.