Russia’s Oil And Gas Revenues Rose By 15% In September

Russia’s oil and gas revenues increased by 15% from August to $7.4 billion (739.9 billion Russian rubles) in September, due to higher budget proceeds from the extraction tax and export duties, finance ministry data showed on Wednesday.  

Rising oil prices in September led to higher budget proceeds from the so-called mineral extraction tax, according to the data.

For January to September, Russia’s oil and gas revenues dropped by 34.5% year-over-year to $56 billion (5.576 trillion rubles).

The decline was due to lower natural gas sales with most of Europe cut off from Russian gas, the price caps on Russian crude, the discounts at which Russia’s oil is being sold to Asian buyers, and the lower international oil prices so far this year compared to last year’s highs when prices hit $100 per barrel following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The average price of Russia’s flagship crude grade, Urals, averaged $83.08 per barrel in September, higher than the average of $68.25 a barrel in September 2022, the finance ministry said earlier this week.

The price of North Sea Dated averaged $93.98 per barrel last month.

Between January and September 2023, the price of Urals averaged just below the G7 price cap of $60 per barrel—at $59.54 a barrel, per the official Russian data.

Still, the average price in the first nine months of 2023 was much lower than the average for the January-September 2022 period, $80.58 per barrel.

Last week, reports emerged that tightening global crude supply and rising international prices raised the price at which Russia’s crude is being sold to India to about $20 per barrel over the G7 price cap of $60. Urals is being sold to one of Moscow’s top customers, India, at nearly $80 per barrel now, or around 30% above the price cap set by the G7 and the EU if Russian crude shipments to third countries outside the EU are to use Western insurance and financing, traders have told Reuters.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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