Russia Confounds the West by Recapturing Its Oil Riches

[former9thward]

Moscow is raking in more revenue than ever with the help of new buyers, new traders and the world’s seemingly insatiable demand for crude

Russia pumps almost as much oil into the global market as it did before its invasion of Ukraine. With oil prices up, Moscow is also making more money.

Demand from some of the world’s largest economies has given Russian President Vladimir Putin the upper hand in the energy battle that shadows the war in Ukraine, and has confounded the West’s bid to cripple Russia’s economy with sanctions.

Sales are booming in Russia’s export market, the world’s largest in crude and refined fuels. And new trade arrangements have given Mr. Putin cover to use natural-gas exports as an economic weapon against Ukraine’s European allies. Before the war, Russia supplied Europe with 40% of its gas. It has since throttled flows through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany and other conduits, driving prices higher and putting pressure on European households and businesses.

Oil revenue more than makes up the difference. “Russia is swimming in cash,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance. Moscow earned $97 billion from oil and gas sales through July this year, about $74 billion of that from oil, she said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-confounds-the-west-by-recapturing-its-oil-riches-11661781928

[maxsolomon]

1. Confound it!

Authoritarians DGAF about Ukraine, no surprise.

[TheRealNorth]

2. Quite simple

We could do the same things that we do with Iran and Venezuela, but the will doesn't seem to be there. Because that would mean penalizing companies that do business with China and India, among others.

[former9thward]

5. Since most large U.S. companies do business with China

and many with India, it would become impossible. In a globalized world sanctions don't work.

[Mr.Bill]

3. To put things in perspective,

97 billion is the budget surplus in California.

[former9thward]

6. I am not sure what a state's budget surplus has to do with Russian oil revenue.

The point is we were told sanctions would bring the Russian economy to its knees and force them out of Ukraine. That has not happened in the real world.

[Mr.Bill]

7. I guess my point is

97 billion isn't exactly "swimming in cash" for a developed country the size of Russia engaged in a major war.

And did whoever told you the sanctions would bring the Russian economy to it's knees and force them out of Ukraine say it would happen in six months? I seem to remember Biden saying it would take some time and may require more sanction in the future. I think we also didn't count on some of our so-called allies not joining in the economic battle to the degree we had hoped. The world economy is a very complex animal and depending on the actions of others beyond our control can be unpredictable.

[former9thward]

8. The U.S. is a developed country.

And its monthly deficit for the month of July was $212 billion. It doesn't seem to stop us from military adventures around the world.

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/deficit-tracker/#:~:text=Deficit%3A%20June%202022-,The%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20estimates%20that%20the%20federal%20government%20ran,deficit%20recorded%20in%20June%202021.

[Mr.Bill]

9. Republicans love to operate that way.

Then Democrats get elected and work to reduce that deficit. How much did Biden remove from that deficit by ending a 20 year-old war? And we are living in difficult times. We spent a fortune to try to get out of a two year pandemic and we are not quite there yet. We are also spending a lot to keep our boots off the ground in what could easily turn to WWIII in Europe. I'm not an expert in international economics, but I'd be willing to bet we can borrow money easier than Russia. We've been running a deficit economy for so long we seem to have forgotten any other way of doing it. And plenty of people have gotten wildly rich from it. Good discussion, but I've pretty much played out my willingness to argue international economics. Thanks.

[Xolodno]

4. But wait! There's MORE!

Russia is also going to build two nuclear power plants in Hungary!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/27/europe/hungary-russia-nuclear-reactors-intl/index.html

Oh and they started on one in Egypt!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-20/russia-s-nuclear-giant-starts-building-of-egypt-s-first-reactors

And soon! Turkey!

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-rosatom-signs-new-construction-contract-turkish-nuclear-plant-2022-07-30/

[womanofthehills]

10. And then, there is the arctic

Russia Begins Development on Arctic Oil Project That Will Produce 25 Million Tons of Oil Per Year


Article from last yr
https://gizmodo.com/russia-s-new-arctic-oil-development-is-a-nightmare-1846991892

[WarGamer]

11. utterly predictable... many of us were saying sanctions don't work.

No that it means it's not worth a try...