Russian oil exports hit a three-year high despite sanctions from the West

Moscow/ Paris – Despite the Western sanction on oil due to the Ukraine war, Russia has managed to keep up with its oil exports. New report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that Russian exports have been about 8.1 million barrels per day in March, the highest in the last three years, earning a revenue of $12.7 billion, an increase of 1 billion dollars over February.

On Friday, the Paris-based International Energy Agency released an oil market report for April 2023. The reports predicted demand for crude oil to increase by 2 million barrels per day in 2023. However, OPEC and OPEC Plus have announced cutting oil production by 0.4 million barrels daily. The reports indicate fluctuation in crude oil prices to continue.

The reports especially highlight oil reports of Russia to have reached its highest level of 8.4 million barrels per day since April 2020 in March despite sanctions. This is an increase of 0.6 million barrels per day.

Along with crude, in March, the export of refined petroleum products also increased by 0.4 million barrels per day to reach 3 million barrels. Russia has earned $12.7 billion in revenue from oil exports. Although the revenue is lower than last year due to the price cap, it is still higher by 1 billion compared to February. The IEA has indicated that the price cap has been breached in purchases done in April.

Just last month, Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov testified that Russia overcame the sanctions to sustain oil exports. He confirmed that the fuel has been sent to allies affected by Western sanctions without declining exports. Reports suggest that Russia’s allies like China and India have been buying a record amount of fuel in the past few days. At the same time, it has come to light that Japan, one of the G7 countries that have imposed a price cap, has continued to import fuel from Russia. All this indicates that the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia’s oil sector have failed. The International Energy Agency’s report has confirmed the West’s claim that sanctions against Russia have failed to achieve their purpose.

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