According to Bloomberg, last Thursday the price of a barrel of Urals oil exported from the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea reached $36.61, the lowest since March 2023. A similar trend is also visible in Baltic ports. Russian oil prices are currently over $20. lower than Brent crude oil, which is the main reference point on the global market.
Bloomberg notes that revenues from oil and gas exports account for a quarter of the Russian budget.
Read also: Oil prices are falling slightly. Excess supply in the market
Sanction exclusions and delays
Demand for Russian raw materials has fallen as a result of the sanctions announced in October against the two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. Even though the sanctions enter into force on November 21, even before that date refineries in China, India and Turkey suspended purchases of Russian raw material in favor of alternative supplies.
Despite the upcoming date of entry into force of the sanctions, on Friday evening the US Ministry of Finance published a number of exemptions and delays to the imposed sanctions. They gave Lukoil until December 13 to sell foreign assets and gas stations, and the entry into force of sanctions against Lukoil's subsidiaries in Bulgaria was suspended until April 2026 to allow, among others, refinery for sale in Burgas. Additionally, the sanctions against Rosneft completely excluded its shares in the Kazakh oil deposits in Tengiz and the consortium that owns the pipeline carrying oil from there to the port in Novorossiysk. The consortium has shares in both Russian, Kazakh and American companies: Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Earlier, the German company Rosneft, which owns the refinery in Schwedt, was also excluded from sanctions for a year. A similar exemption from sanctions for Hungary was also announced, although no relevant license has been published so far.
