Russia saw oil and gas revenues drop almost in half last month compared to the previous year. This is probably because almost all EU countries have stopped importing oil from Russia for several months. There is hardly any gas flowing from Russia to Europe.
Russia’s Finance Ministry reported that Russian income from oil and gas fell by 46 percent in February to about 6.5 billion euros.
Moscow now charges a higher tax on gas, but that hasn’t been enough to offset lower export earnings. Energy income usually accounts for a third of the Russian treasury.
Since there is less interest in Russian oil, the country has to make significant discounts. For example, Urals oil is now sold at half the price of last year. Moscow is looking for ways to raise prices in order to get more money for the war in Ukraine.
European Union countries have been banned from importing crude oil from Russia since December 5. Since last month, this also applies to oil products from Russia, such as diesel and kerosene. There is also hardly any gas flowing into Europe, although this is mainly because Moscow turned off the gas tap itself last year. In addition, last September there were some explosions in two important gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
“Lifelong zombie fanatic. Hardcore web practitioner. Thinker. Music expert. Unapologetic pop culture scholar.”