Russia’s Oil Revenues Jumped 50% Year-on-Year in June

Higher prices for Russia’s flagship crude grade Urals boosted the Russian government's revenues from oil in June with proceeds rising by nearly 50% from a year earlier, Bloomberg estimated on Wednesday in calculations based on data from the Russian finance ministry.

The annual jump in Russia’s revenues from the oil industry suggests that Russian producers have adapted to the Western sanctions and are selling their crude to willing buyers at higher prices.

In June, oil-related taxes for the Russian budget surged to $6.67 billion (590.6 billion Russian rubles), Bloomberg’s calculations showed. This compares with $4.55 billion (402.8 billion rubles) in revenue from the oil industry in June last year.  

Russian data showed that the budget’s combined revenues from the oil and gas industry surged by 41% year-over-year in June to $8.4 billion (746.6 billion rubles).

Russian oil revenues have been rising in recent months compared to the year-ago levels as Moscow is increasingly finding ways to circumvent sanctions and find buyers willing to risk purchasing its crude and refined petroleum products.

The higher revenues from oil for Russia highlight the difficulties of the Western countries to reduce Putin’s income from oil, despite the price cap on Russia’s oil and the ramp-up of the sanctions enforcement in recent months.

A weaker ruble and higher international and Urals grade prices have also helped raise oil revenues for Russia.

Last month, Russia’s finance ministry data showed that Russian budget revenues from oil and gas soared by 73.5% in January-May of 2024 compared to the first five months of 2023.

Between January and May 2024, the revenues for the Russian federal budget from oil and gas hit $55.7 billion (4.95 trillion Russian rubles).

Russia’s oil and gas revenues for June were projected to increase by over 50% year-on-year, reaching $9.4 billion, according to Reuters calculations from last week.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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