Russia has suffered a major setback amid global tensions, with exports falling by 40 percent
Ukraine's drone attacks and pipeline damage have significantly impacted Russia's oil exports. Moscow has been hit by the outage of nearly 40% of its capacity, leaving it increasingly dependent on Asian markets.
While the war between Iran and Israel continues, Russia has suffered a major setback. Reuters reports that at least 40% of Russia's oil export capacity has been shut down following Ukrainian drone strikes, a controversial attack on a major pipeline, and the seizure of tankers.
This disruption is the most serious oil supply disruption in Russia's modern history. Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter,
and the disruption has dealt a blow to Moscow at a time when oil prices have surged above $100 per barrel due to the Iran war. Russia's oil production is one of the main sources of revenue for the national budget and is vital to its $2.6 trillion economy.
Ukraine escalates attacks
Ukraine has intensified drone attacks on Russia's oil and fuel export infrastructure this month, targeting all three of Russia's major western oil export ports: Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, and Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea.
According to Reuters calculations, about 40% of Russia's crude oil export capacity, or about 2 million barrels per day,
was out by Wednesday after the most recent attack. This includes the Primorsk and Ust-Luga pipelines, as well as the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.
Kyiv has also targeted pipeline oil pumping stations and refineries. Kyiv says its aim is to reduce Moscow's oil and gas revenue,
which accounts for about a quarter of Russia's state budget, and to weaken its military strength. Russia claims the Ukrainian attacks are terrorist attacks and has tightened security across its 11 time zones.
Ports, pipelines and tankers
Ukraine said that Russian attacks in late January damaged part of the Druzhba pipeline, after which both Slovakia and Hungary demanded that Kyiv immediately resume supplies.
The Novorossiysk oil terminal, which has the capacity to handle up to 700,000 barrels of oil per day, has been unable to load oil as planned since it was damaged by a major Ukrainian drone attack earlier this month.
Additionally, traders reported that repeated seizures of Russian-linked tankers in Europe have disrupted Arctic oil exports from the port of Murmansk,
amounting to 300,000 barrels per day. Given the threat to its westward export routes, Moscow is relying on oil exports to Asian markets, but traders say these routes are limited due to capacity constraints.
Russia
Russo-Ukrainian War