Almost all of Russia’s oil exports this year have been shipped to China and India, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, after Moscow responded to Western economic sanctions by quickly rerouting supplies away from Europe.
Russia has successfully circumvented sanctions on its oil and diverted flows from Europe to China and India, which together accounted for around 90% of its crude exports, Novak, who is in charge of the country’s energy sector, told Rossiya-24 state TV.
He said that Russia had already started to forge ties with Asia-Pacific countries before the West introduced sanctions against Moscow following the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.
“As for those restrictions and embargoes on supplies to Europe and the U.S. that were introduced… this only accelerated the process of reorienting our energy flows,” Novak said.
He said that Europe’s share of Russia’s crude exports has fallen to only about 4-5% from about 40-45%.
“The main partners in the current situation are China, whose share has grown to approximately 45-50%, and, of course, India…Earlier, there basically were no supplies to India; in two years, the total share of supplies to India has come to 40%,” Novak said.
Speaking about the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers, Novak said Russia was sticking to its obligations on supply cuts and it saw the Brent oil price at $80-$85 per barrel next year, broadly in line with current levels.
