Russian oil exports hit near three-year high in March: IEA

Russian oil exports jumped to their highest level in almost three years in March despite Western sanctions, but revenues were down sharply from last year, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

The West has imposed a slew of sanctions against Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, including price caps on its oil exports and EU embargoes.

But the IEA said in its monthly oil market report that total shipments from Russia rose by 600,000 barrels per day to 8.1 million bpd last month, the highest level since April 2020.

While Russia's oil revenues rebounded by $1 billion to reach $12.7 billion, they were still down 43 per cent compared to a year ago.

The Paris-based agency said much of the increase was due to a rise in exports of oil products, which returned to pre-Covid levels as they climbed by 450,000 bpd to 3.1 million bpd.

The IEA said oil product shipments destined for the EU almost doubled between February and March to 300,000 bpd, but they were down by almost 1.5 million compared with pre-war levels.

Diesel shipments to Turkey, which has refused to join Western sanctions on Moscow, reached their highest level since 2018.

Moscow's crude exports rose by 100,000 bpd to five million bpd, with India replacing China as the main destination for Russian shipment in Asia in March.

• Business