A drastic drop. Russia’s oil revenues were almost halved over the year in February (42%) under the effect of G7 and European Union sanctions. At the same time, the country more or less always markets the same volume, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.
“We estimate that in February Russia took in $11.6 billion, compared to $14.3 billion in January and nearly $20 billion a year earlier,” says its monthly oil report.
“A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the country is still sending about the same volume of oil to world markets. This shows that the G7 sanctions regime has not reduced the global supply of crude oil and petroleum products, while limiting Russia’s ability to generate export revenue.
Massive imports in Asia
Russian oil production was still in February at roughly the same levels as before the conflict. Exports fell by 500,000 barrels/day to 7.5 million barrels (mb/d). Over the past year, the 4.5 mb/d of Russian oil formerly destined for the EU, North America and other OECD members have largely found other recipients.
Now Russian oil goes largely to Asia, especially India, and to a lesser extent in China, which benefit from the discounts granted. In February, it thus represented approximately 40% and 20% respectively of the crude oil imported by India and China; the two countries have between them absorbed more than 70% of the stocks exported by Moscow, according to the IEA. For other petroleum products, excluding crude, Africa, Turkey and the Middle East are also recipients.