Russian oil company profits more than 7 billion USD in the first half of the year

Rosneft Oil said on September 15 that its first-half profit rose on the back of higher crude prices, helping it overcome the sanctions barrier.

Rosneft Oil's net profit for the first six months of the year increased 13% year-on-year to 432 billion rubles ($7.2 billion). Fossil fuel production increased 1.5%, or 4.85 million barrels a day.

Revenue from oil sales also increased by 5.7% year-on-year. Meanwhile, debt volume decreased by 12% compared to the beginning of the year.

"Rosneft is under unprecedented external pressure and unreasonable sanctions," said Rosneft Oil CEO Igor Sechin, "Thanks to high operational efficiency and sound governance, we have ensured ensure business continuity and stable results".

The company is facing Western sanctions over Ukraine, making it difficult for them to borrow money and sell oil globally. However, the increase in profits and production has shown an impressive recovery of Rosneft.

The Russian oil industry was in crisis in the first few weeks of the war. However, the country later found new buyers to replace Europe. The increase in global oil prices also helps Rosneft increase revenue, although it has to reduce selling prices compared to the world.

The above results point to a challenge for European authorities. They want to curb the global flow of Russian oil, and at the same time limit the amount of money the Kremlin collects to fund the war in Ukraine. But so far, Europe has only accomplished the first goal.

Russia may have collected nearly 160 billion USD from energy sales after the conflict
Over the past six months, Europe, China and Turkey have been the biggest buyers of Russian energy, importing more than 100 billion euros in total.

AFP quoted a report by the Center for Research in Energy and Clean Air (CREA) (Finland) estimating that Russia has earned 158 billion euros ($158 billion) from energy exports in the six months since the military campaign. in Ukraine . Of which, the European Union (EU) contributes half.

In the six months from February 24, when Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine, CREA estimates that the EU imported the most fossil fuels from Russia, with 85.1 billion euros. It is followed by China with 34.9 billion euros and Turkey with 10.7 billion euros.

"Fossil fuel exports have contributed about 43 billion euros to the Russian federal budget since the beginning of the conflict, contributing to the maintenance of the war in Ukraine," CREA said.

CREA called for more effective sanctions against Moscow, as the military campaign sent oil, gas and coal prices soaring. "The sharp increase in fossil fuel prices means that Russia's revenue is now much higher than in previous years, despite the decrease in export volumes this year," the organization said.

Gas prices in Europe recently set a record consecutively due to the supply squeeze by Russia. Crude oil prices also spiked in the first quarter, but then gradually cooled down.

Although the EU has stopped buying Russian coal, the region is still importing oil and gas from Moscow. CREA said that the EU's ban on importing Russian coal was effective. Because after this order took effect, Russian coal exports fell to the lowest level since the beginning of the conflict. "Russia cannot find an alternative buyer to the EU," the report said.

However, this organization called for tightening sanctions on Russian oil exports, pushing the EU and UK to take advantage of the global shipping industry to do this.

"The EU must ban the use of European-owned ships and ports for the transport of Russian oil to third countries. The UK should also prevent the insurance industry from participating in this process," CREA said.

On September 2, the G7 countries agreed to impose a ceiling on the price of Russian oil. The US has been pushing the plan for months, citing it both to prevent Russia from funding the military campaign and to protect consumers from soaring oil prices.