European shipping companies enable the export of Russian oil to new buyer countries such as India, says the Finnish research unit CREA. India also exports its refined petroleum products to Europe.
Russia has earned € 93 billion in fossil fuel exports during the first hundred days of its offensive war.
Russia has received a record amount of revenue from energy exports, CREA’s leading analyst estimates Lauri Myllyvirta.
According to Myllynvirta, Russia has wrapped its top account with energy, despite the fact that exports have decreased and the country has to sell oil well below market prices, for example. This is due to high world market prices for fossil fuels.
– The income received by Russia has risen about 50 percent higher than last year, and as a whole it has probably been higher this year than ever before, Myllyvirta says.
Russia received the most revenue, about EUR 46 billion, from oil sales. Next came natural gas, petroleum products, LNG and coal.
With its energy revenues, Russia is financing its attack on Ukraine.
Europe is still the largest buyer, India and China on the rise
According to CREA, about 61 percent of Russia’s fossil fuels came to the European Union.
Myllyvirta says they estimate that over the past month, China has become Russia’s largest buyer of fossil energy. Previously, Germany was at the top.
According to CREA, Russia has increased its oil exports to India the most. According to Myllyvirta, India bought about 18 percent of Russia’s oil exports in May. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India accounted for only about one percent of Russia’s oil exports.
Exports of Russian oil to new buyer countries are made possible by European shipping companies.
– About 80% of tankers exporting crude oil to India are European-owned. This is the next thing that needs to be addressed if Russia’s income from fossil exports is to be smoked, Myllyvirta says.
According to Myllyvirta, the EU could ban the use of European tankers to transport Russian oil to third countries. Russian oil is exported to India, especially on Greek-owned vessels.
India imports refined petroleum products to Europe
India has also increased its exports of petroleum products made from Russian crude oil. According to Myllyvirta, about half of the refined petroleum products are exported to other countries from Indian refineries that have received Russian oil shipments.
– About 20% of those exports go to Europe, mainly to the Mediterranean countries.
Myllyvirta says that they do not have precise information about what kind of oil products refined from Russian crude oil have been imported to Europe from India.
According to him, the EU could ban the import of petroleum products from refineries that export Russian oil. This could be addressed at the latest when the EU’s own ban on Russian oil imports enters into force.