Finance & economics | Crude sophistication

A higher global oil price will help Russia pay for its war

The Kremlin tries new tactics to keep proceeds afloat

Derricks belonging to Tatneft, an oil company, in Tatarstan, Russia.
Heading to a Czech forecourtImage: Getty Images

The bonanza could not last for ever. After reaching record volumes in recent months, despite Western embargoes, dwindling production and the risks of navigating the Black Sea, Russia’s crude shipments fell to 3m barrels a day (b/d) in August, some 800,000 lower than the April-May average and below pre-war levels. They are likely to remain sub-par. On September 5th Russia said it would extend a “voluntary” 300,000 b/d cut first announced for August to the end of 2023 (the baseline for this reduction is unclear).

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Crude sophistication”

From the September 9th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

The federal reserve represented as a slot machine with bitcoin coins at its base.

Will America’s crypto frenzy end in disaster?

Donald Trump’s team is about to bring digital finance into the mainstream

A ping pong game with a container instead of a ball.

Do tariffs raise inflation?

Usually. But the bigger problem is that they harm economic growth and innovation


A Gulfstream G600 from Hampshire Aviation Company lands at Barcelona Airport in Barcelona, Spain.

European governments struggle to stop rich people from fleeing

Exit taxes are popular, and counter-productive


Saba Capital wages war on underperforming British investment trusts

How many will end up in Boaz Weinstein’s sights?

Has Japan truly escaped low inflation?

Its central bankers are increasingly hopeful

How American bankers dodged the MAGA carnage

The masters of the universe have escaped an anti-globalist revolt