Russian oil companies were forced to significantly reduce production in December due to sanctions from Donald Trump’s administration, which disrupted the sale of barrels to the Kremlin’s largest customers – India and China.
Last month, oil production volumes in Russia fell by more than 100 thousand barrels per day, to 9.326 million barrels per day, Bloomberg reports citing a source familiar with official statistics, which the government classified as secret in 2022.
The decline in production was a record since mid-2024, when Russia was complying with OPEC+ quotas. Now, under the agreement with oil-producing countries, Russia can increase oil production. However, instead, volumes in December unexpectedly fell and are 250 thousand barrels per day below the quota.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to sell the extracted oil to companies: although tankers continue to export about 4 million barrels per day from ports, more and more raw materials are “stuck” at sea waiting to be unloaded. Since the end of November, the volume of unrealized Russian oil has increased by 30 million barrels. In addition, Ukrainian strikes on Lukoil’s fields in the Caspian Sea could have affected production, Bloomberg notes (The Moscow Times).
