According to Business Insider, Russia has started to export even bigger volumes of oil and gas than before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Apparently, sanctions imposed by Western allies did not hurt Russia's energy export.
Earlier, the US, UK, and EU introduced tough sanctions on the Russian energy sector because of the country’s special military operation in Ukraine. By adopting sanctions, Western allies want to force Russia to leave Ukraine. Nevertheless, Russia seems to have found a way to circumvent sanctions. Analysts at Business Insider note that the country has only multiplied its export volumes of gas and oil.
In April, Russia plans to earn $9.6 billion from the export of energy resources, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, stated. The figure exceeds the preliminary forecasts made after a sharp rise in commodity prices. According to Bloomberg, in 2022, Russia will yield $321 billion from energy exports, exceeding the indicators of 2021.
It is quite curious that Russia still makes a large chunk of profit on the energy export taking into account the so-called tough sanctions. For instance, the US government has imposed a total trade embargo on Russian energy resources. The UK is preparing to gradually reduce imports of Russian oil. Analysts were quite surprised by the EU’s ban on the import of Russian coal. The next move is likely to be a ban on crude oil.
These measures are primarily aimed at limiting profit from the commodity export. Western states led by the United States were meant to undermine the Russian economy and stop military actions in Ukraine. However, some buyers of Russian oil and gas simply ignored sanctions.
Currently, Russia has enough raw materials to keep the energy sector afloat and receive income from the energy export. According to Reuters, India bought 13 million barrels of oil in February. The country has already pledged to purchase more in the future.
China also remains Russia’s trading partner. It means that the country will continue to buy Russian energy recourses. Notably, Chinese state-owned refineries do not sign new contracts. Yet, they are honoring existing ones.
Some EU countries still purchase raw materials from Russia, Business Insider emphasizes. The EU cannot ditch Russian supplies of raw materials in the short term even though the block is actively seeking ways to lower its reliance. Nowadays, the EU is the largest importer of LNG and oil.
High demand for energy resources has strengthened the Russian economy. Currently, Russia makes roughly $1 billion a day in export income from crude oil and petroleum products. However, Western allies are mulling over a new package of sanctions. Therefore, Russia will have to look for new ways to avoid sanctions and continue to deliver raw materials to other countries.