According to the Kommersant daily on December 21, which cited unnamed people with knowledge of the issue, Russian oil shipments decreased by 11% for the period of December 1 through 20 compared to the prior month.
As per Kommersant, Russia exported about 560,000 tonnes per day throughout the time period, including both pipeline and seaborne supplies.
The EU’s ban on buying Russian oil went into force on December 5; according to Brussels, this will result in a 90% decrease in the bloc’s purchases of Russian oil. Around half of Russia’s oil exports were purchased by Europe prior to February this year, when hundreds of Russian troops were sent into Ukraine.
Moscow has quickly switched its energy trade eastward this year, exporting record supplies to nations like India and China while referring to its operation in Ukraine as a unique military operation. The Kremlin is hoping that continued demand from Asia will make up for the supply that Russia’s regular European consumers have lost.
To further impede Moscow’s main source of income, the EU, the G7, and Australia have also set a price restriction on Russian oil. This cap forbids companies from offering logistics or insurance for Russian sea-borne oil shipments where the amount paid is higher than $60 per barrel.
Russia has threatened retaliatory actions, which might include forbidding oil sales to any firms that adhere to the oil price cap.