(Photo by ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
- Oil prices are surging again – and that's making Russia a lot richer.
- The Kremlin's crude export revenues jumped $1.8 billion last month, according to the International Energy Agency.
- The surge comes with key benchmarks close to 10-month highs on recent OPEC+ production cuts.
Russia is pulling in more money from oil sales, with supply cuts by key producers driving up benchmark prices.
The Kremlin raised $17.1 billion from its crude exports last month, according to data from the International Energy Agency, up $1.8 billion from July.
Higher prices offset the potential impact of Russia's total output falling by around 150,000 barrels a day, the IEA added.
West Texas Intermediate crude has climbed 26% to around $96 a barrel since the end of June, while the Urals crude gauge of Russian prices has jumped 33% over the same period.
Supply cuts by the leaders of the OPEC+ cartel have fueled the rally, which has lifted the two key benchmarks close to 10-month highs.
Saudi Arabia slashed its output by 1 million barrels a day back in July, with the restrictions expected to last until the end of October according to a recent survey of commodities traders and analysts.
Meanwhile, Russia's deputy prime minister said on August 31 that Moscow would carry on pumping out less oil, pledging to cut exports by 300,000 barrels a day this month.
Rising oil revenues are likely to give Russia a much-needed economic boost as the Kremlin presses ahead with its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Western countries imposed a $60-a-barrel cap on Russian crude in December 2022 but Moscow has excelled at evading those sanctions, according to multiple think tanks.