According to the Barents Observer 8 May 2019 [7], "The Payakha fields are located by the Yenisey River north of Dudinka. They could be Russia’s biggest discovery in 30 years. The Payakha area on peninsula Taymyr might hold as much as 1,2 billion tons of oil. This major oil development project could soon unfold  near the area where the great Yenisey river runs into the Kara Sea.  The vast oil resources stored under the local permafrost would be  good news for company Neftegazholding and its leader Eduard Khudaynatov, who for years have been seeking ways to develop the Payakha area. According to the newspaper Kommersant, experts react with skepticism to the sudden major upgrade of the Payakha. 

This oil wouldl be a boost for the Northern Sea Route. The sudden upgrade of the fields comes as the Russian government is struggling to add shipment volumes to the Northern Sea Route to an annual of 80 million tons by year 2024 and new infrastructure and industry is planned built to meet the ambitious target. The Payakha fields could become a key part of the picture. Furthermore, the Payakha resources could become a crucial component in the new Arctic oil pipeline planned by Rosneft. The state oil company says it intends to build a 600 km long pipeline from the Vankor fields in western Siberia to the coast of the Taymyr Peninsula. It will have the capacity to carry 25 million tons per year and could potentially include also the Payakha resources." [7].

The ambitious project by state-owned oil company "Rosneft" started to build, once again, one of Russia’s largest oil projects with two oil fields [2]. According to Neftegazholding, the lion’s share of the field resources are concentrated in the Peschany and Irkinsky structures, two of the company’s four licenses in the area. The two fields together hold another 804 million tons of oil, Khudaynatov and his oilmen now argue. 

According to local Dolgan Indigenous communities, however, a project of such a huge dimensions  will transform a vast and fragile ecosystems--Arctic tundra--into a multi-billion dollar industrial hub [1,4]. Besides that, the project will distort traditional economies of hunting and fishing, which are key to Dolgan’s income [1,3].

The community openly protest against the mega project and commented for "Climate Change News" Newspaper how the development project is very worrying and upsetting [1] : “We are part of the environment so we cannot consider separating the environment and our traditional lifestyle,” Indigenous leader said. “It means that when they violate our natural environment, they violate our rights.”

The two fields are located about 130 km to the north of Dudinka and hold an estimated 106 million tons of oil equivalents [2]. The port of Dudinka is from before known as the strategic port for mining and metallurgy company Norilsk Nickel. Situated on the Yenisey river, Dudinka port will also ship oil. Oil spills to Artic waters is, thus, likely to occur [2]. 

In total, Rosneft is developing 15 towns, a port, two airports and 800km of lifted pipeline. This network of pipelines, roads and electrical lines will criss-cross the Arctic tundra, a treeless expanse across which Dolgans with reindeer herds travel hundreds of kilometres [1,3, 4]. According to local people, unless the pipeline is lifted at least 3 meters from the ground, reindeers won't be able to move freely across the territory [1]. In addition, pipelines are lifted by developers in attempt to prevent the permafrost from melting [1,4].

This and many other mega projects in the Arctic Russia (e.g. Yamal, LNG 2) are under  the  "2035 Arctic strategy", through which oil extraction would grow by 66% between 2018 and 2035, ignoring thereby the Paris Agreement [1,2].

Experts say that, in general, the synergy of the Artic cluster will embrace all the significant hydrocarbon deposits on the Russian Arctic coast and continental shelf, as well as new oil pipelines, major transshipment points and the giant Zvezda shipyard in the Far East. Oil will be shipped to Europe, Asia and the Pacific [6].

In addition, there will be construction of a transport infrastructure, industrial and social facilities inclusive of new housing and public utilities, as well as professional training centers in high Arctic latitudes. The sea port terminal that will have a capacity for servicing several large tankers. Plans suggest there will be a field camp for workers too [6].

At present, the consolidated revenue of the district budget exceeds 8 bln rubles, with own revenues standing at 1.2 bln rubles (17,000,000 USD). “The main objective is to build up the revenues by 50 percent by 2020", investors added [6].