Russia's national oil revenue has dropped by 40% due to European and American sanctions; the profits of tanker companies have hit a record high; India and China have also obtained cheaper oil as a result.

(Reuters)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Russia's national oil revenue has dropped by 40% due to European and American sanctions. Traders and bankers interviewed said that the profits of tanker companies have hit a record high, and India and China have also obtained cheaper crude oil.

According to a Reuters report, Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, which has greatly reduced Russia's oil revenue, and shipping and oil companies have benefited nearly tens of billions of dollars.

More than 20 trade and banking sources said the winners from the sanctions were mostly in China, India, Greece and the United Arab Emirates, with a handful of private companies with Russian stakes.

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None of the companies violated the sanctions but did benefit from them, the sources said.

As the conflict in Ukraine enters its second year, data show that Russia's fiscal revenue has fallen significantly, but exports have remained stable.

Putin said a few days ago that "sanctions will trigger an increase in energy prices", but the fact is exactly the opposite. The international crude oil benchmark price has fallen from a high of US$139 per barrel (about NT$4,170) in March 2022 at the beginning of the war to 80 per barrel. US dollars (approximately NT$2,400).

Russia's oil revenues fell 40 percent in January after the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) imposed price caps on Russian crude in December, Russia's finance ministry said.

"Extremely low official oil prices will affect the Russian state budget in recent weeks," said Sergey Vakulenko, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Vakurenko, who was head of strategy at Russian energy giant Gazprom Neft, decided to leave the company and Russia within days of the war, adding: "Watching customs statistics According to the data, it can be found that refineries in India and China have benefited from this, but the main beneficiaries are still tanker companies, middlemen and Russian oil companies.”

The European and American sanctions against Russia can be regarded as the most severe sanctions imposed on a single country in history, including the complete prohibition of importing Russian energy into the US and EU markets, and prohibiting traders from transporting Russian crude oil unless the price is less than US$60 per barrel (about NT$1,800).

Russia now has to offer deep discounts to Middle Eastern crude to buyers such as China and India, prompting the diversion of most crude and refined products to Asia.

Shipping bans and price caps have made buyers more cautious and forced Russia to pay for the transportation of crude.

At least 10 traders revealed to foreign media that as of late January, Rosneft had offered discounts of US$15 to US$20 (about NT$450 to NT$600) per barrel to Indian and Chinese buyers; Russian sellers even had to pay shipping companies $15-$20 per barrel for transportation because Russia lacks enough freighters.

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said on Sunday (5th) that the price cap policy of the sanctions had cost Moscow more than $8 billion (about NT$240 billion) in revenue in January alone. .

However, this is only a superficial figure. Since part of the income flows into Russian private companies, it is difficult to quantify the exact blow to Russia's finances.

Russia's energy and finance ministries declined to comment on the impact.

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