Putin's Wrong – Russia’s Oil Exports and Revenue Both Slump in August

In Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that it was “more profitable to export crude oil than to process it domestically” amid rising energy prices, in an apparent bid to downplay Russia’s ongoing fuel crisis. Which is wrong – according to a new think tank report, at any rate.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The latest analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Finland-based energy think tank, noted that both Russia’s fossil fuel exports and revenues fell month-on-month in August – by 7% and 8%, respectively. In short, what Russia lost in refining capacity owing to Ukrainian strikes was not made up for by diversified exports – what’s worse, it also had to rely on India and South Korea for historic gasoline imports. Record lows in exports “Ukrainian refinery strikes see Russia’s oil product exports hit record lows and Moscow turn to importing fuels from South Korea and India,” the report states. CREA, in its previous reports, said Russia’s energy export volumes remained relatively flat despite falling revenues, with a 12% month-on-month drop in July, compared to a 7% rise in export volumes, and a 1% revenue drop in June. That is compared to a modest 2% revenue growth in May, thanks to rising energy prices. Come August, Russia’s export revenues fell by 8% month-on-month to €604 million ($700 million) per day, which is approximately $21.7 billion throughout the whole month. Other Topics of Interest What Putin Hopes to Gain From BRICS in India – and Why He May Not Get It Putin wants BRICS to strengthen Russia’s global position, but India and other members are resisting Moscow’s push for a united anti-Western bloc. Drop in crude exports Russia’s overall crude exports – excluding products such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) – have dropped in August. While pipeline crude exports saw a 14% revenue boost compared to July, it failed to offset the 13% drop in seaborne crude export revenues. “Russia’s crude oil export revenues fell 9% month-on-month to €350 million [$406 million] per day, and volumes dropped 11%,” the report states. “Pipeline gas export revenues rose by 25% to €68 million [$79 million] per day, while export volumes rose 5% month-on-month.” CREA noted that Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s Black Sea terminals – such as those in Tuapse and Sheskharis in Novorossiysk, the largest on the Black Sea coast – have significantly hampered seaborne exports. “Revenue from seaborne oil product exports unloaded at their destination ports fell sharply by 32% month-on-month to €78 million [$90 million] per day, the lowest level since Russia’s full-scale invasion, while export volumes fell 21%,” the report says. “Oil product loadings at Russian ports have now fallen for three consecutive months. In August 2026, oil product loaded volumes were less than half the levels observed in August 2025,” it continues. “Tuapse… did not load a single cargo of oil products for the third consecutive month… Crude oil loadings at the port of Novorossiysk ceased for nine consecutive days – the longest period without reported loadings since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.” Staggering increase in seaborne gasoline imports Russia has also turned to other countries for gasoline and diesel imports as waves of Ukrainian strikes on its refineries hamper domestic production, triggering an unprecedented automobile fuel crisis. CREA said that in August, Russia imported 172,000 tonnes of oil products by sea – three times the total imports for the whole of 2025 in just one month. It’s also worth noting that the figure is significantly lower than the 270,000 tonnes of “seaborne supplies from Asian countries” cited by Reuters in late August. The CREA analysis also confirmed earlier reports that India forms the backbone of Russia’s oil product imports at 70%, of which 94% are gasoline. Additionally, CREA notes that India also refines Russian crude, meaning Russia “is therefore paying a refinery that it partly owns to process its own crude into fuel it can no longer produce domestically.” The report also identifies Egypt and South Korea as two other major suppliers of oil products to Russia – including 25,000 tonnes of diesel valued at €16 million ($19 million) from Egypt and 18,000 tonnes of mostly gasoil from South Korea. How severe is Russia’s gas shortage? According to Reuters, Russia’s summer gasoline consumption is estimated to be 115,000 tonnes per day, or around 3.6 million tonnes per month. By late August, the outlet said Russia is likely producing 80,000-90,000 tonnes domestically, which it says account for 70% of that consumption. Reuters also said 220,000 tonnes of imported gasoline “already arrived” in Russia through August, including 136,000 tonnes from Belarus, contradicting CREA’s figures. But taking the upper figures, including Reuters’s 220,000-tonne import estimates and combining everything, Russia could likely provide 3 million tonnes of gasoline throughout the month – still around 600,000 tonnes short. This could also explain why Putin dodged the question in Vladivostok, saying Russians “must be prepared for anything” when asked whether they should expect a prolonged fuel crisis. Leo ChiuLeo Chiu is a journalist and editor based in Eastern Europe since 2015. He has witnessed two presidential elections in Belarus and traveled widely to conflict zones and contested regions, producing reporting that bridges the gap between major developments and local realities.