Rosneft in Stand-Off With Oil Buyers as It Seeks Sanctions Protection

The Kremlin is reflected in a polished plate of the state-controlled Russian oil giant Rosneft at the entrance of its headquarters in Moscow, on May 17, 2011. Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images

MOSCOW—Rosneft wants its Western oil buyers to accept new terms and pay penalties from 2019 if they fail to pay for supplies in the event that new U.S. sanctions on the Russian energy major disrupt its oil sales, according to trading sources and Rosneft’s draft contracts.

The buyers—including some of the world’s biggest oil companies and traders such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Vitol, and Gunvor—are fiercely opposing the move, according to trading sources.