Russia’s revenues from exports of crude oil and refined products fell again in November due to lower export volumes and weaker prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, touching their lowest level since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s economically vital energy industry is under strain from an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and pipelines as well as Western measures aimed at punishing Moscow for the war.
Washington ratcheted up its pressure on the Kremlin in October by introducing sanctions against Russia’s largest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil.
The Paris-based IEA said Russia’s revenues from crude and fuel export sales fell to $10.97 billion in November, down $3.59 billion from the same month a year ago. It said that Russia’s total oil and fuel exports for the month fell by roughly 400,000 barrels per day to 6.9 million bpd, as buyers assessed the implications and risks associated with more stringent sanctions.
As a result, Urals prices plunged by $8.2 to $43.52 per barrel, dragging export revenues to their lowest level since the February 2022 invasion.
"Notably, total (Russia's) seaborne exports through the Black Sea plunged by 42 per cent to 910,000 bpd weighed down by recent Ukrainian attacks on dark fleet vessels and facilities," it said of the November decline.
The IEA also said Russian oil production declined last month to 9.03 million bpd from 9.24 million bpd in October. Output was around 500,000 bpd below the November quota set for Russia by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+.
The IEA also said Kazakhstan’s crude oil supply rose by 120,000 bpd from October to 1.81 million bpd last month, 330,000 bpd above the OPEC+ quota.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Joe Bavier)
