Deputy Prime Minister Novak: Almost all Russian oil exports this year went to China and India

Almost all of Russia’s oil exports this year went to China and India. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this yesterday. Europe’s share of oil exports, he said, had fallen to around four to five percent from approximately 40 to 45 percent. Moscow redirected oil supplies away from Europe in response to the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

In an interview with Russian state television channel Rossiya 24, Novak said that deliveries to China and India accounted for around 90 percent of Russia’s total oil exports. He added that Russia had begun developing ties with countries in Asia and the Pacific before the West started imposing sanctions on Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. Restrictions and embargoes on deliveries to Europe and the United States, he said, had merely accelerated the redirection of Russian energy product exports.

„In the current situation, the main partners are China, whose share (of Russian oil exports) has risen to around 45 to 50 percent, and, of course, India,“ the Russian deputy prime minister said.

„In the past, there were essentially no deliveries to India. In two years, the total share of deliveries to India reached 40 percent,“ he added.

Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia. Analysts expect oil production in Russia to remain roughly at this year’s level next year, or possibly increase. The Russian government has previously said it expects oil production and gas condensate output to fall to 527 million tonnes this year, from 535 million tonnes last year.

Moscow is now limiting oil supplies under an agreement between the OPEC+ group, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia. „As for production in Russia, we do not expect any major changes compared with current levels,“ said analyst Ronald Smith of BCS World of Investments. „Growth in global demand will probably be met by increased production in the United States, Venezuela, Iran and other countries,“ Reuters quoted him as saying.

Novak also said yesterday that Russian natural gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline would exceed 22 billion cubic metres this year. Last year, these exports amounted to around 15.5 billion cubic metres. According to Novak, contracts for the planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would significantly increase capacity to transport Russian gas to China, are now being finalised.