Report released on Monday bloombergCiting information from the Russian Ministry of Finance, reported that it was found that the revenue the Russian government received from oil sales and taxes in April 2024 was more than double compared to April 2023.
The report said that part of this increase was due to a significant drop in the value of its currency, the ruble, but also to rising oil prices and Russia’s export of oil to friendly countries such as India and China outside of Europe. suggests that this is a result of the company’s ability to continue selling. , also contributed to the change.
Russia is currently under a wide-ranging sanctions regime imposed by the United States and many Western European countries aimed at thinning Russia’s pockets following the country’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The European Union was once one of Russia’s biggest oil customers; Stop It began importing Russian crude oil by sea at the end of 2022, and soon thereafter stopped imports of refined crude oil.The left-wing government of US President Joe Biden took the lead Efforts to impose price caps on Russian oil to limit profits.
In response, Russia significantly expanded its exports to its BRICS allies, especially China and India. Neither China nor India boasts large domestic oil reserves, but they have developed significant refining capacity to meet demand and are eager buyers of discounted Russian crude.
British energy giant Shell announced on Tuesday that it would abandon Russian oil and gas resources and close all of its service locations in Russia. https://t.co/uPmjzEyVl4
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 8, 2022
The Bloomberg report focused on the revenue the Russian government received from oil taxes in April.
“The Russian budget’s revenue from oil-related taxes totaled 1.53 trillion rubles ($11.5 billion) last month, compared with about 497 billion rubles in April 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Ministry of Finance data. “The number of cases has increased sharply,” the report says. According to the data, total oil and gas revenues in April increased by nearly 90% year-on-year to 1.23 trillion rubles. ”
Bloomberg cited both “rising oil prices in Russia” and “weak ruble” as factors, and said that as Russia “deploys a shadow tanker fleet and expands its circle of non-oil resources, the price ceiling will be lower than that of crude oil.” “It will have a limited impact on prices.” This is to avoid “Western oil buyers.”
Bloomberg predicted that “Russia will collect about $126 billion in oil and gas taxes in 2024.”
The dramatic year-on-year increase in revenue appears to be in line with Treasury forecasts before the release of the statistics. Industry site OilPrice.com I remembered Reuters said on Monday that it had predicted before April ended that “Russia’s oil and gas revenues in April are expected to double compared to the same month last year due to higher oil prices.” The report also notes that oil and gas revenues in 2023 will be lower than in the first year of the Ukraine war, as “lower oil prices and reduced pipeline gas exports weighed on budget revenues from fossil fuels.” He pointed out that it had decreased.
The price increases observed by multiple oil sources come as countries are buying Russian crude in defiance of the G7 price cap, which orders countries not to buy crude from Russia at prices above $60 per barrel. is the main cause. As of mid-April, price tracking data showed many buyers were shelling out an estimated $75 a barrel for Russian crude, with more enthusiastic countries like India willing to buy oil at even higher prices. Ta.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in December that Russia’s oil profits were boosted by its relationships outside Europe.
“Historically, we supplied Europe with a total of 40-45 percent of our oil and petroleum products. This year we do not expect this figure to exceed 4-5 percent of our total exports,” Novak said. I explained it at the time. “China and India, whose share (of oil exports) has increased to 45-50%, are our main partners in the current situation.”
Indian leaders have vigorously defended their decision to continue importing Russian crude, arguing that it is in the best interest of Indians to buy cheap crude, refine it locally and sell it overseas. are doing. In February 2023, one year after the first full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was revealed that India was making huge profits by selling refined oil believed to be from Russia to the United States and Europe, undermining the purpose of Western sanctions. Reports began to surface.
An EU-wide embargo on Russian oil could lead to severe fuel shortages in many parts of Germany, one of Germany’s ministers has admitted. https://t.co/rBVFQxyB4P
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 8, 2022
Asked about the purchase of Russian crude oil in late 2022, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri declared that there was “no moral conflict.” “We don’t buy from Company X or Company Y. We buy whatever we can get. We don’t buy. It’s the oil companies that buy.”
In the same year, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar disputed the purchases, condemning India’s oil purchases while accusing Europe of hypocrisy for purchasing Russian natural gas.
“If India buying Russian oil is financing a war, then tell me, isn’t buying Russian gas financing a war?” he asked at an event in Slovakia. “Isn’t it just Indian money and Russian oil that comes to India to finance the war, and not Russian gas that comes to Europe and not money? Let’s think about it a little more evenly…Europe is buying oil, I’m buying gas.”
indian newspaper Hindustan Times report Russia announced on Sunday that it is ready to further expand trade with India through huge investments in Indian stocks and infrastructure projects, and provide the Kremlin with more rupee liquidity.
“The two countries continue to conduct most of their trade in their own currencies, and some payments for energy supplies are made in UAE dirhams.” Hindustan Times report. Avoiding the dollar will limit the impact of sanctions on Western trade. The paper noted that India is “reluctant to pay in Chinese yuan” despite potential restrictions on the use of the dollar.
