Tag: eu

The longer Western sanctions isolate Russia and reduce energy supplies to European refiners, the higher energy prices will go. Even though Russian energy exports are declining, higher prices have enabled the country’s state-owned oil and gas companies to double revenue, thus stabilizing the ruble and allowing financing for President Putin’s military machine. 

So far, Western sanctions have backfired as Russia doubled fossil fuel revenues. What’s important to understand next is that Russian oil production is likely to drop further in the coming months and will tighten global supplies and boost energy prices which could mean higher revenues for Putin.