Russia earns more from oil exports than before SMO

By Rhod Mackenzie

Russia's net revenues from oil sales in October amounted to $11.3 billion, or 31% of the country's total budget revenues for the month. This was the highest figure since May 2022 and exceeds the figure for any month before the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports , citing the calculations by the Russian Ministry of Finance.

According to the news agency, in the first nine months of 2023, Russian and its shadow fleet owners transported more than 70% of Russian oil cargo, which “allowed Moscow to maintain control over exports and gradually increase prices.” This year, the Russian Federation exported almost 3.5 million barrels of oil per day (b/d) and about $11 billion was spent on supply spreads. Some of this amount represents “legitimate shipping costs,” but nearly all of it “goes through anonymous merchants or unknown shipping companies,” Bloomberg claims.

The Greek authorities said they could not prevent secret shipments of Russian oil taking place off the country's coast. As the agency clarifies, they are carried out in international waters, which begin 6 miles (10 km) from the coast in the Gulf of Laconia. Bloomberg writes that Greek-owned ships handled more Russian oil in 2023 than ships from any other country except Russia itself.

On December 5, 2022, a ceiling on oil prices from Russia was introduced at $60 per barrel. Since February 5, 2023, the European Union embargo on Russian petroleum products has been in effect. Politico wrote the day before that the West’s attempts to limit Russia’s oil revenues have “essentially failed.” According to the publication, due to restrictions, the Russian Federation lost €34 billion in export revenues over the year, but this is “much less than what those who developed the oil ceiling had hoped.” According to the International Energy Agency, in October, Russian oil exports fell by 70 thousand bpd, to 7.5 million bpd, and export revenue fell by $25 million.