## August Russian Oil Exports See Lowest Volume in Three Years
Russian oil exports in August 2024 registered a significant decline, plummeting to their lowest level in three years. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and trade data from Kpler and Argus Media, Russian oil exports dropped by 290,000 barrels per day (b/d) month-over-month (m-o-m) to 7 million b/d. This marks the second consecutive month of decline and underscores the evolving landscape of global crude and product exports.
### Decline in Crude and Product Exports
Russian crude exports suffered a severe seasonal contraction of 270,000 b/d m-o-m, settling at 4.4 million b/d—a decline of 270,000 b/d from the previous year. In contrast, product exports remained relatively stable, dipping by just 20,000 b/d year-over-year (y-o-y) to 2.65 million b/d. Despite the anticipated summer demand uptick and stagnant refinery runs, product exports showed resilience. The main variations in product exports came from light products like naphtha, gasoline, and gasoil, which declined by 240,000 b/d, offset by a 230,000 b/d increase in fuel and Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) loadings. This shift is attributed to conversion unit outages following drone attacks, as reported by the IEA.
### Revenue Implications
The decline in both volumes and prices resulted in a substantial drop in commercial export revenues. August revenues decreased by $1.6 billion m-o-m to $15.3 billion, a level not seen since July 2023. Specifically, product revenue fell by $480 million to $5.6 billion, while crude revenue dropped by $1.2 billion to $9.6 billion. The diminution in revenues underscores the challenges faced by the Russian oil industry amidst fluctuating global demand and geopolitical tensions[