Graphic Truth: Russia’s declining fossil fuel revenues

Russia’s revenues from its fossil fuel exports, which account for huge chunks of the Kremlin’s incomings, have dropped significantly during the course of the war. They are down 27% from the year before the invasion, and dropped 19% over the last year, according to a report from the Centre of Research on Energy and Clean Air. The main reason for this isn’t lower export volumes, though: fossil fuel export volumes only dropped 14% from the year before the invasion, and 3% last year. Instead, Russia’s declining oil revenue appears to be caused by the plunging price of fossil fuels like crude oil, which had fallen below $60 per barrel late last year – it was above $100 per barrel during the first few months of the war. It won’t help either that the discount on sanctioned Russian oil has reached its highest level since 2023.