Russia sees $780 mln shortfall in oil and gas revenues for January - Ministry
Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Russia's federal budget is expected to see a shortfall of RUB 54.5 billion ($780 mln) in oil and gas revenues for January 2023, the Finance Ministry revealed in a statement on Wednesday.
The slump in revenues comes after reports that Russian crude oil is trading at or around record discounts to Brent in the wake of EU sanctions and the G7 price cap.
"The federal budget's oil and gas revenue is projected to fall short by RUB 54.5 billion in January 2023. Therefore, the total amount of funds allocated for sale of foreign currency amounts to RUB 54.5 billion. Transactions will be carried out from 13 January-6 February, respectively, with daily amount of foreign currency sale equaling RUB 3.2 billion," according to the statement relayed by the Moscow-controlled TASS news agency.
However, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Russia has not yet experienced the impact of the oil price cap and the Kremlin is sceptical about the "attempts to calculate" losses.
Peskov was referencing data from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), which calculated restrictions imposed on Russian oil are costing Moscow €160 million per day.
The spokesman added that it was too early to draw conclusions about the impact of the Western-imposed price cap and "there is no evidence to support such conclusions."
In a separate TASS report, Moscow will "do everything" to ensure its interests are protected, addressing reports the G7 would pursue two price ceilings for Russian oil products: one for products traded at a premium to crude and the other for those traded at a discount.
"Russia will do everything to ensure its interests. Of course, measures like these will be met with resistance. Russia will balance its interests. This can be said unequivocally," said Peskov.
TASS noted on 27 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on retaliatory measures against the West's price cap on Russian oil, banning supplies of Russian oil to buyers who join the West's restrictions.
In a sequence of stories published by TASS on Wednesday, revenues from the oil and gas industry to Russia's budget increased by 7.5% month-on-month in December 2022 and amounted to RUB 931.5 billion, referencing data from the Finance Ministry.
