The sharp jump in world oil prices in the conditions of the war that the US and Israel are waging against Iran provides the Russian budget with about $150 million in additional revenue daily, the newspaper “Financial Times“ (FT) reported, citing calculations by industry analysts.
According to their estimates, by the end of March Russia could receive a total of between $3.3 and $4.9 billion more if the average price of Russian oil varieties fluctuates between $70 and $80 per barrel. For comparison: in February it remained at around $45.
US temporarily eases oil sanctions against Russia
Meanwhile – due to high prices on world markets – the US decided to temporarily ease sanctions on Russian oil imposed on Moscow due to Russia's war against Ukraine. For a period of 30 days, countries will be able to buy Russian oil and oil products that were loaded onto ships before March 12.
In this regard, the leading analyst of the Kpler company Sumit Ritoliy sees Russia as the big winner in the new war in the Middle East. The special representative of the Russian President Kirill Dmitriev wrote the following on Telegram: “The US is effectively admitting the obvious: without Russian oil, the world energy market cannot remain stable“.
Kpler data shows that as of March 6, about 130 million barrels of Russian oil were on tankers at sea. And according to Russian envoy Dmitriev, this amount is about 100 million barrels.
Merz criticizes US decision
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz considers the temporary easing of oil sanctions against Russia a mistake. “We think it is wrong to ease sanctions now - regardless of the reason. At the moment there is a problem with prices, not with quantities“, Merz commented on Friday, adding that he would very much like to know what motives prompted the US government to make this decision.