Half of Russia's oil in October was transported by "shadow" tankers not subject to sanctions – CREA

Russia's export revenue from fossil fuels for October was the second highest in 2023, with a noticeable increase in sea and pipeline supplies of crude oil. Half of the oil products were transported by "shadow" tankers, which are not subject to the price cap policy.

Source: monthly analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)

Quote: "Compared to September, Russia’s monthly export revenue from fossil fuels marginally declined in October by EUR 16 mn per day (-2%). Seaborne oil products saw the most significant decline — amounting to EUR 19 mn per day (-7%) — primarily due to restrictions on the export of these products..

Seaborne and pipeline crude oil, on the other hand, rose by EUR 7 mn per day (+3%) and by EUR 5 mn per day (+4%), respectively," the analysis says.

Details: The 10% increase in monthly LNG revenues (4 million per day) can be attributed to a rise in exports to Europe (27%), Asia (8%) and other regions, analysts add.

In October, China, Türkiye, the EU, Singapore and India were the top importers of Russian fossil fuels.

China's purchases of Russian crude oil saw a slight 4% increase in revenue month over month. Russian monthly earnings from shipping EUR 500 million worth of crude oil to India rose by 17%.

Transported by tankers under the oil price cap policy, 48% of Russian crude oil and oil products were moved in October. The remaining (52%), non-price cap policy "shadow" tankers were used to ship the cargo.

"Setting the cap for crude oil at USD 30 per barrel could have slashed Russian revenues by 52% (EUR 7.82 bn) in October alone.

If this cap had been set since the sanctions against Russian oil were imposed in December 2022, Russia’s oil export revenues could have been slashed by nearly half — EUR 59 bn (-49%)," it was noted in CREA.

China was the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels in October, making up 46% of all imports. Türkiye (15%) came in third, and India (20%) came in second, importing 20% of Russia's fossil fuels.

During the same time period, the EU and Singapore made up 15% and 4% of Russia's total imports of fossil fuels, respectively.

Background: 

Russia has racked up a staggering €550 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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