Russia is winning in the energy markets, getting the opportunity to cope with Western sanctions, while the EU may face an energy crisis in the fall, according to an article by Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas.
Blas said that in July, Russia’s oil output returned to the levels observed before Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine, averaging about 10.8 million barrels per day.
“Russia has found new customers for the million barrels a day or so that European oil refiners have stopped purchasing due to self-sanctioning,” the columnist covering energy and commodities wrote.
Most of that crude is going to Asia – notably India – as well as Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East, he said.
Blas said that as Brent crude is hovering at about $100 per barrel, and as Russia can offer smaller discounts, huge funds are coming in to the Kremlin, and energy sanctions against Moscow are not working.
Russia’s political success, he said, is the following: in March and April, Western politicians thought OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, would dump its alliance with Russia, but the opposite has been the case.
According to Blas, Russian President Vladimir Putin can afford to forego revenue by restricting natural gas sales to Europe, which is preparing for massive retail energy price increases and potential shortages.
