Russia’s Fossil Fuel Revenues Continue To Fall

Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues continued to fall in December from November, as income from oil and gas exports has been dropping since September, a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed on Tuesday.

Fossil fuel revenues for Russia dropped by 8% last month from November, for a decline of $63 million (58 million euros) per day, according to CREA’s estimates.

The attacks in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis did not impede Russian oil tankers or trade last month. In December, the number of Russian tankers crossing the Suez Canal rose by 3% month-on-month, per CREA’s analysis.  

Last month, 64% of Russian crude oil was shipped by ‘shadow’ tankers, while tankers owned or insured in countries which implement the price cap policy transported 35% of Russia’s crude in December.

A few days ago, CREA said in a separate analysis that in the 12 months since the G7 oil price cap came into effect on December 5, 2022, as much as $50.3 billion (46.4 billion euros) worth of Russian oil has been transported on tankers using UK protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance. 

33% of all Russian oil by volume was transported on tankers insured in the UK since the sanctions were implemented until early November 2023, CREA noted.  

Widening discounts for Russian grades and lower international benchmark prices dragged Russia’s oil export revenues down to a six-month low in December, despite higher export volumes, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week.

All Russian oil exports, including crude and fuels, jumped by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7.8 million bpd in the last month of 2023, compared to November, the IEA said in its Oil Market Report for January.  

Despite the highest export volumes in nine months, Russia’s estimated export revenues plunged to their lowest level in six months, to $14.4 billion, the IEA said. The decline was the result of increased discounts of Russian oil prices compared to benchmarks and the overall decline in international benchmark prices. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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