Russia’s oil earnings fell in July as Indian imports hit a record high, exposing how sanctions and shifting demand are reshaping Moscow’s energy markets amid disrupted supply routes and opaque shipping networks.
Russia’s oil export earnings fell in July even as India bought more of its crude than ever before, underlining how Moscow’s energy trade is being reshaped by sanctions, refinery damage and shifting demand patterns. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Russia’s fossil-fuel export revenues dropped 12% month on month to €683mn a day, while crude export income was broadly unchanged at €392mn a day.
The picture behind that headline was uneven. The research group said seaborne crude earnings rose 7%, offsetting a 21% fall in pipeline crude revenue, while oil product exports hit a fresh low. Loadings of refined products fell 23% to 4.7mn tonnes, less than half the level recorded a year earlier, after sustained drone attacks on the Tuapse terminal and other disruptions to refinery operations.
India remained the clearest beneficiary of Russia’s discounted crude. The CREA data showed Indian imports of Russian oil rose 2.1% from June to a record high in July, worth €5.5bn. That follows earlier reporting by Livemint and other Indian media that June imports had already reached record levels, with Russian barrels accounting for a dominant share of the country’s crude intake.
The trend points to a broader rerouting of Russian energy flows rather than a simple collapse in demand. Reuters reporting has repeatedly noted that Indian refiners have continued buying Russian crude at close to record levels despite tighter U.S. restrictions, while some of the resulting refined products have then been sold into markets that ban direct purchases of Russian oil. CREA said 18 shipments of products made from Russian crude were unloaded at EU ports in July, more than double the previous month, despite the bloc’s ban on such imports.
Russia’s dependence on a small group of buyers remains stark. China took half of its crude exports, followed by India at 37%, while the EU stayed the biggest destination for Russian liquefied natural gas. The research also said 53% of Russia’s seaborne oil in July was carried by so-called shadow tankers under sanctions, with another 42% moving on G7-linked vessels, highlighting how deeply the trade now relies on opaque shipping networks.
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