Russia energy revenue may be higher now than before Ukraine war, U.S. official says

WASHINGTON — Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuels now than before its invasion of Ukraine, as global price increases offset the impact of western efforts to restrict its sales, U.S. energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers during a hearing on Thursday.

“I can’t deny that,” Hochstein told the Senate Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation in response to a question about whether Moscow was making more money now off its crude oil and gas sales than before the war.

The United States and the European Union agreed to ban imports of Russian energy and imposed escalating sanctions to punish the country for its invasion of Ukraine.

While those moves put a chill on global trade in Russian fossil fuels, they also helped to trigger a surge in global prices of oil and gas. At the same time, Russia has been able to sell more cargoes to other buyers, including major energy consumers China and India, by offering it at a discount to oil from other origins.

Hochstein said that while those Russian sales to China and India have been discounted compared with supplies from other countries, the global market price surge means Russia’s revenues are likely higher now.

Hochstein said he has asked India in recent conversations not to purchase too much Russian oil, and said he believes there is a “ceiling” to how much oil India will buy from Russia. He did not provide details. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Mark Porter and Bernadette Baum)