According to a recent study from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finnish think tank, Russia has been earning an unprecedented amount from its oil, gas and coal exports. During the first 100 days of the war, Russia earned $97 billion in energy export receipts, out of which two-thirds came from oil and most of the balance from natural gas.
The most sobering fact about the energy-related sanctions targeted against Russia have so far barely made a dent in Putin’s war chest. In fact, the roughly $1 billion that Russia earns in fossil fuel exports exceed its spending on the war.
Although the United States has imposed a complete ban on Russian energy imports and Europe has managed to import 23 percent less in Russian natural gas imports since the invasion began and is on the path towards imposing an embargo that will cover three-quarters of oil shipments to the bloc, price increases have cancelled out the drop in the volume of exports. For example, Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company, recently reported its gas export revenues have doubled over the previous year.
Even after the EU puts into effect its embargo on Russian crude oil, Putin still has other big markets like China and India, which have proven they are more than willing to import much-needed fossil fuels from Russia even if it means it keeps Moscow in the business of waging war.