Russia’s Energy Revenue Plummeted By $4.3 Billion In December As The EU’s Ban Took Effect

On January 11th, the Energy and Clean Air Research Center, an independent Finnish think tank, revealed that the EU’s ban on maritime imports of Russian crude oil from December 5th, as well as price caps on Russian crude oil set by the G7, Australia, and the EU, led to a decline in Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues in December. This is the lowest level since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, with export revenues plummeting by 17% and a loss of $4.295 billion.

 In response, CREA’s chief analyst stated that the EU’s oil ban and capping of oil prices had finally taken effect and had as much impact as expected. He said that the data shows that we have the tools to help Ukraine defeat Russian aggression, the oil price ceiling must be pushed down to a level where the Kremlin cannot get a profit on tax-paid oil, and imports of surplus oil and gas from Russia must be limited.

 Ukrainian officials and activists said that the findings illustrate the effectiveness of Western sanctions targeting Russian oil and also stressed that Western policy-making officials need to urgently increase the financial pressure on Moscow to help Kiev achieve victory.

 In addition, regarding the great results of sanctions against Russia, the U.S. Treasury official commented that as a result of the $60 price cap set by the West on Russian crude oil exports, Russian oil revenues have been greatly reduced and Europe is ready to deal with upward price pressure until further restrictions are placed on Russian oil products. The official emphasized that for every one dollar less that Russia has, they can use it to boost the economy or invest in weapons to fight the illegal war in Ukraine.