Russia loses $1 billion in week as drone strikes hit oil exports
Photo: The Kremlin faces serious consequences from strikes on key ports (t.me/DniproOfficial)
Drone strikes on ports in Ust-Luga and Primorsk have caused a collapse in Russia’s oil exports. As a result, the Kremlin lost over $1 billion in revenue in just one week, Bloomberg reports.
A series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's key oil ports caused exports from the Baltic region to plunge to one-third compared with the previous week.
The outlet notes that oil shipments via the Baltic fell to their lowest level since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Impact of the drone strikes
Between March 22 and March 29, Russia’s total oil exports dropped by 43% — from 4.072 million to 2.318 million barrels per day. Over the week, 22 tankers departed from the country’s seaports — 15 fewer than a week earlier.
Despite the drop in volumes, the Kremlin’s export revenues, based on monthly calculations, rose to $1.79 billion per week — the highest level since May 2024. This is explained by rising global oil prices amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
In particular, the price of Urals from Baltic ports jumped to $73.24 per barrel, ESPO rose to $84.19, and shipments to India increased to nearly $97.69 per barrel.
At the same time, the drone strikes came at a moment when Moscow started earning windfall profits due to higher global oil prices.
Strikes on Russia’s oil export infrastructure
On March 23, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck an oil terminal in Primorsk. At the time, part of the storage tanks caught fire, and fuel loading was temporarily suspended. The fire lasted for several days, and on March 27, it flared up again after another attack.
Drone strikes forced Russia to temporarily halt oil shipments through both ports — Primorsk and Ust-Luga. Infrastructure sustained significant damage, and fires broke out at the facilities.
In addition, large-scale fires continue at oil terminals in Primorsk and Ust-Luga. Moreover, after new strikes on March 29, storage tanks that had not previously been hit caught fire.
On March 31, drones struck the port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days. The oil processing terminal was hit, further complicating Russia’s oil exports.
