The vast majority of Russian oil exports had been rerouted to China and India as Moscow continues to reduce its dependence on the European Union (EU) oil trade.
In April, Russian oil exports reached their highest level in 14 months, with almost 80 percent heading to Asian markets due to Western sanctions, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report stated that Russian crude shipments increased by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd), totaling 8.3 million bpd for the month.
The EU has implemented sanctions on Russian oil exports, including a ban on seaborne crude oil exports and price caps on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel. Further restrictions and price caps were imposed on higher-value Russian refined oil products.
In response to sanctions, Russia reduced oil output by 500,000 bpd starting in March. Additionally, Moscow stopped selling oil to buyers who adhere to a Western-imposed price ceiling of $60 a barrel. As a result, Russia’s oil trade revenues increased by $1.7 billion in April, reaching $15 billion, with nearly 80 percent of crude shipments going to China and India.
“While Russian gas pipeline exports to Europe have obviously collapsed, Russian exports of both oil and coal have continued to flow at close to pre-war volumes,” said Gavin Thompson, vice chairman of energy in the Asia Pacific at Wood Mackenzie.
Despite sanctions imposed by Western countries to punish Russia for declaring war on Ukraine, the Russian economy has managed to stay afloat, thanks to the increasing demand of China and India for Russian energy imports.
In 2022, Russia’s economy contracted by only 2.1 percent, much less severe than the previously predicted contractions of up to 12 percent. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak earlier revealed that Russia plans to reroute over 60 percent of its oil and petroleum product exports from the EU to Asia this year, with 140 million tons out of 220 million tons being rerouted.
No comments:
Post a Comment