Russia’s oil export revenues dropped in November to their lowest monthly level since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday.
Russia’s earnings from oil exports fell in November to their lowest monthly level since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported on Thursday.
As the world’s third-largest oil producer, Russia relies heavily on fossil fuel revenues to support state finances, which are increasingly strained by weak economic growth, Western sanctions and Ukrainian strikes on its energy infrastructure. Both export volumes and prices have declined, the IEA noted, pushing revenues down to levels not seen since February 2022.
Moscow earned $11 billion from oil exports in November, a drop of $3.6 billion compared with the same month last year. According to the Russian finance ministry, oil and gas income over the first nine months of the year fell 22 percent, totalling $88 billion.
The IEA also said Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s “shadow fleet” — vessels used to evade sanctions and on marine oil infrastructure have cut nearly half of the country’s Black Sea seaborne oil shipments in November.
“After weathering significant unplanned refinery outages in November, tightness in refined product markets has eased, but sanctions in 1Q26 will provide fresh challenges,” the IEA said.
In October, the United States unveiled some of the harshest measures yet on Russia’s energy sector, sanctioning its two biggest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an attempt to force Moscow to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
This comes as Ukraine had intensified attacks on Russian refineries over the summer and early autumn, causing domestic petrol prices to spike and forcing some Russian regions to introduce fuel rationing.
A mix of high military spending, entrenched inflation and lower oil revenues has stretched the Russian budget. Moscow is expected to post a $50 billion deficit this year, equivalent to around three percent of GDP, and is raising taxes on consumers and businesses next year to try to reduce the gap.
With inputs from agencies
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