Russia’s income from oil exports returned in September, with 18.8 billion dollars, to the peaks of the summer of 2022, with 1.8 billion more than in August thanks to the increase in volumes and the rise in prices due to the cuts decided by OPEC.
In its monthly report on the oil market published this Thursday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) explains that Russia exported an average of 7.6 million barrels per day last month, which is 460,000 more than in August.
Regarding crude oil alone, there was an increase in shipments, particularly to China (270,000 more barrels per day) and Turkey (80,000).
The price at which Russia sold its oil increased by eight dollars per barrel in September compared to August, to an average of $81.78.
This means that the reduction that Moscow had to accept regarding the price of North Sea oil was reduced to 12.18 dollars per barrel, since that difference was 12.42 dollars in August and, above all, 15. $68 in July. A sign that Western sanctions measures against Russian oil are being less effective.
The value of Russia’s oil exports had skyrocketed at the beginning of 2022 and until the summer with the invasion of Ukraine and for the whole of that year they were 19.6 billion dollars per month.
Beyond the Russian case, IEA experts note that the policy of production cuts implemented by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC) has resulted in a large increase in income for this cartel of which Moscow is a key member.
Exports from these OPEC countries have gone from 72 billion dollars in June to 92.2 billion in September.
The biggest increase in absolute terms has been for Russia (from $12.9 billion to $18.8 billion) followed by Saudi Arabia (from $19 billion to $22 billion).
The cartel’s reduction in production by 1.7 million barrels per day in May had an almost negligible effect on prices and translated into a cut in the value of oil exports.
It was in July, when Saudi Arabia announced an additional cut of one million barrels a day, that prices began to take off.
One of the big beneficiaries has been Iran, which is exempt from OPEC’s production reduction measures, and which since January has increased its shipments abroad by 30%, resulting in a 60% increase in income. for their exports.