Oil paralysis in Baltic: Russia loses over $70 million daily
Photo: Ukraine attacks Russian ports on the Baltic Sea (Getty Images)
Exports of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk were halted today, April 1, after Ukrainian attacks. Russia is losing tens of millions of dollars every day, stated Finland’s Border Guard in a comment to Reuters.
"At the moment, very few tankers are departing from the oil ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga. We are talking about individual vessels," Head of Maritime Safety and Security at the Finnish Border Guard Mikko Hirvi said.
According to journalists, in recent years, 40–50 tankers carrying Russian oil and LNG passed through the Baltic Sea each week. This suspension of exports has become the most serious disruption in modern history for Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter.
Laura Solanko, senior adviser at the Bank of Finland and an expert on Russian energy markets, said Russia could be losing more than $70–75 million per day from the halt of oil exports via the Baltic Sea alone.
According to her, before the Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia exported more than 2 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day through the Baltic.
Ukrainian attacks
Ukrainian drones have been striking oil terminals in the Russian ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, located in the Leningrad region, for more than a week.
Last week, Reuters reported that such strikes by Ukrainian defenders had paralyzed 40% of Russia’s oil exports.
Meanwhile, yesterday, March 31, it became known that Ukrainian drones had attacked the port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days.
