Russian Oil Industry Resilient Despite Sanctions and Price Drops
By As sanctions against Russia continue to bite, its seaborne oil exports remain surprisingly resilient. Although the European Union (EU) has imposed an import ban on Russian crude oil, the nation has still managed to keep its oil moving to global markets.[0]
Total U.S. crude exports to Europe increased by around 70% above 2021 levels, reaching 1.75 million barrels per day in 2022, CME Group said. This is likely to partially offset any decline in Russian crude oil sold into the region.[1]
The price of Russian Urals crude oil sold in January dropped to USD49.48 a barrel, a 42 percent decrease from USD85.64 a barrel in the same period of 2022.[2] This is in line with the G7's price ceiling on Russian crude oil.[3]
India is becoming more and more influential in the international oil sector, purchasing cost-effective Russian oil and then refining it into fuel for the US and Europe.[4] In January, New York purchased around 89,000 barrels a day of gasoline and diesel from India, the most in about four years.[5]
The addition of WTI Midland as a deliverable crude into the Brent forward contract has created more enthusiasm in the U.S. crude oil market and any related derivatives markets associated with NYMEX WTI crude futures.[1] Recently, there has been an upsurge in transactions involving derivatives related to the WTI prior to the introduction of WTI Midland.[1] CME reported that open interest between WTI Midland and WTI Houston had grown by 60,000 contracts to a total of 300,000 lots by December of last year.[6]
With U.S. crude oil exports to Europe rising, WTI-linked derivatives continuing to play a significant role in the global crude oil trade, and India buying up Russian crude oil, the situation in Russia's oil industry is far from dismal.
0. “Upstart Indian Shipper Helps Get Russian Oil to Market” The Wall Street Journal, 29 Jan. 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/upstart-indian-shipper-helps-get-russian-oil-to-market-11674985846
1. “U.S. Crude Oil Exports To EU Support WTI As Global Benchmark” Seeking Alpha, 2 Feb. 2023, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4574573-us-crude-oil-exports-to-eu-support-wti-global-benchmark
2. “Russian Crude Trade Moves Deep Into the Shadows” Energy Intelligence, 30 Jan. 2023, https://www.energyintel.com/00000186-0267-dfd7-adae-aef77c0f0000
3. “Russian crude oil rates see 42 percent yearly decline last m…” MENAFN.COM, 2 Feb. 2023, https://menafn.com/1105512840/Russian-crude-oil-rates-see-42-percent-yearly-decline-last-month
4. “India is Playing an Increasingly Important Role in Global Oil Markets, Buying More and … – Latest Tweet” LatestLY, 5 Feb. 2023, https://www.latestly.com/socially/business/india-is-playing-an-increasingly-important-role-in-global-oil-markets-buying-more-and-latest-tweet-by-bloomberg-4800991.html
5. “Fuel made from Russian oil is being funneled to New York” Markets Insider, 3 Feb. 2023, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-oil-fuel-new-york-india-trade-western-sanctions-economy-2023-2
6. “U.S. Oil Is Replacing Russian Crude In EU Markets” OilPrice.com, 2 Feb. 2023, https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-Oil-Is-Replacing-Russian-Crude-In-EU-Markets.html
