Russia’s oil and gas revenues fell despite rising prices – SZRU
фото: Reuters
Despite a sharp rise in oil prices in September, Russia received less revenue from the oil and gas sector than last year. Almost half of the taxes collected were returned to oil companies by the Kremlin as compensation for supporting domestic fuel prices.
This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FIS).
According to intelligence, Russia collected about $10.16 billion in oil and gas taxes in September. However, after compensation and tax deductions, only $5.28 billion remained in the budget. This is 22.3% less than in September last year.
The biggest increase was in payments to oil companies under the so-called fuel damper. This mechanism allows producers to receive compensation from the state for selling fuel on the domestic market at lower prices than on the foreign market.
In August, such payments amounted to $2.3 billion, and in September they increased to $3.56 billion. This is a 55% increase in the month and the highest figure since April 2022.
The SZRU explains that high world oil prices only increase the costs of the Russian budget. The more companies can earn from exports, the more compensation they have to pay for supplying fuel to the domestic market.
Additional problems are created by the reduction in the production of petroleum products. Due to the shortage of fuel, Russia is forced to limit its exports and increase imports.
In particular, in August and September, about 350-370 thousand tons of petroleum products were imported to the Russian Federation by sea every month. At the same time, the state began to pay compensation for imported fuel, which further increased budget expenditures.
Overall, in the first nine months of 2026, the Russian budget’s oil and gas revenues decreased by 17.2% compared to the same period last year, to $63.82 billion. At the same time, oil companies received about $25.7 billion in compensation.
Against this background, the Russian Ministry of Finance has lowered its forecast for oil and gas revenues for 2026 to $88.4 billion. This is 14.5% less than the previous estimate.
The intelligence community notes that even high oil prices no longer guarantee Russia an increase in budget revenues. Due to problems with oil refining and fuel shortages, the Kremlin is having to spend more and more money to support the domestic market.