How Sanctions Have Increased Russia’s Oil And Gas Revenue

New data! #Russia's oil and gas revenues hit another record high in April. 1.8 trillion rubles in a single month, after 1.2 trillion in March. After only 4 months, Russia's federal #budget has now already received 50% of the planned oil and gas revenue for 2022 (9.5 trillion).

 

Although the U.S. has stopped buying Russian oil, the challenge remains that Russia is one of the largest global producers and exporters of oil. There is no way to completely remove Russian oil from the market without sending oil prices much higher — perhaps to $200 a barrel.

 

Further, as oil prices go higher it increases the appeal of Russia’s oil. Right now, China and India, for example, have tremendous incentive to buy discounted Russian oil.

 

In other words, it is a classic catch-22. In attempting to punish Russia by keeping its oil off the market, Russia is enjoying a net benefit of higher oil revenues.

 

That’s not to say that other sanctions aren’t having the desired impact. By all accounts, life is becoming more difficult in Russia due to the many sanctions that have been put in place.

 

But in a world that is still heavily dependent on oil, the only way to effectively impact Russia’s oil revenues is to reduce global dependence on oil.

 

By Robert Rapier, Oil Price