Russian oil and gas revenues down 41.4% in Jan-July 2023

- Oil and natural gas revenues decline to 4.2 trillion rubles with lower oil and gas prices

Russia's oil and natural gas revenues declined by 41.4% to 4.2 trillion rubles ($43.4 billion) during the first seven months of the year due to lower hydrocarbon prices, the Russian Ministry of Finance reported Wednesday.

Over this period, the federal government's budget deficit amounted to 2.8 trillion rubles (about €29 billion), the ministry said.

Budget expenditure over this period rose to 17.3 trillion rubles, while budget revenues hit 14.5 trillion rubles.

EU member states agreed to impose a ceiling price of $60 per barrel on oil transported by sea from Russia in December.

On Feb. 5, a similar ban was imposed on refined petroleum products, with a price cap of $60 per barrel.

Russia, however, announced that it would stop oil shipments to countries imposing a price cap and instead direct its exports to Asian markets, particularly China and India, at huge discounts.

US$1 equals 98.02 rubles at 15.30 local time (0130 GMT) on Wednesday.

Reporting by Emre Gurkan Abay in Moscow

Writing by Sibel Morrow

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr