The West’s oil war against Russia is starting to take its toll — sparking calls for tougher measures

Published

2 years ago

January 11, 2023

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European countries have been scrambling to find alternative sources of oil and gas following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2021.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Russia’s revenues from fossil fuel exports collapsed in December, according to a new report, significantly hampering President Vladimir Putin’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine.

The findings, Ukrainian officials and campaigners say, illustrate the effectiveness of targeting Russia’s oil revenues and underscore the urgent need for Western policymakers to ratchet up the financial pressure on Moscow in order to help Kyiv prevail.

Published Wednesday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, an independent Finnish think tank, the report found the first month of the European Union’s ban on seaborne imports of Russian crude and the G-7’s price cap had cost Moscow an estimated 160 million euros ($171.8 million) per day.

CREA’s report said the Western measures were largely responsible for a 17% fall in Russia’s earnings from fossil fuel exports in the final month of 2022. It means that Russia — one of the world’s top oil producers and exporters — saw revenues from fossil fuel exports slump to their lowest level since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February.

“The EU’s oil ban and the oil price cap have finally kicked in and the impact is as significant as expected,” Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at CREA, said in a statement.

“This shows that we have the tools to help Ukraine prevail against Russia’s aggression. It’s essential to lower the price cap to a level that denies taxable oil profits to the Kremlin, and to restrict the remaining oil and gas imports from Russia,” Myllyvirta said.

The G-7, Australia and the EU implemented a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil on Dec. 5. It came alongside a move by the EU and U.K. to impose a ban on the seaborne imports of Russian crude oil.

Together, the measures reflected by far the most significant step to curtail the fossil fuel export revenue that is funding the Kremlin’s onslaught in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 6, 2022.

Mikhail Klimentyev | Afp | Getty Images

Energy analysts had been skeptical about the impact of a price cap on Russian oil, particularly as Moscow had been able to reroute much of its European seaborne shipments to the likes of China, India and Turkey.

Russia retaliated to the Western measures late last month by banning oil sales to countries that abide by the price cap.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has previously said a Western price cap on Russian oil would not impact its ability to sustain what it describes as its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Peskov also warned the measure would destabilize global energy markets, Reuters reported.

‘Financial bloodline for Putin’s war’

Oleg Ustenko, economic advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Wednesday that while it is “very good news” that Russia is losing revenue from fossil fuel exports as a result of the Western measures, they were “definitely not enough.”

Ustenko echoed Zelenskyy’s calls for a price cap that is set at a much lower level, saying at a briefing that each escalation of economic sanctions against the Kremlin should see the oil price cap come down to a target range of $20 to $30 a barrel.

There is “no reason to wait and see,” Ustenko said. “It is already clear.”

“The EU and G7 have the power and all means to cut this bloodline. Only force and money speak to the Kremlin.”

Svitlana Romanko

Founder and director of Razom We Stand

CREA’s report found that the measures caused a fall in shipment volumes and prices for Russian oil that has cut the country’s export revenues by 180 million euros per day.

By increasing exports of refined oil products to the EU and the rest of the world, the report said Moscow had been able to claw back 20 million euros per day, resulting in a net daily loss of 160 million euros since the Western measures came into force.

Russia still makes an estimated 640 million euros per day from exporting fossil fuels, the report said.

“The first month of the embargo proves what we’ve been saying from the beginning of the invasion: income from exports of fossil fuels is the financial bloodline for Putin’s war,” said Svitlana Romanko, founder and director of Ukrainian human rights group Razom We Stand (Together We Stand).

“The EU and G7 have the power and all means to cut this bloodline,” she added. “Only force and money speak to the Kremlin.”

Romanko called on the price cap coalition to lower the price limit, strengthen the enforcement of the embargo and introduce additional sanctions to close loopholes.

CREA’s report says lowering the oil price cap against Russia to between $25 to $30 a barrel, a range it notes is still “well above” production and transport costs, would slash Russia’s oil export revenue by at least 100 million euros per day.

It says that the Western price cap coalition boasts “strong leverage” to push down the price caps, adding that “Russia has not found a meaningful alternative to vessels owned and/or insured in the G7 for the transportation of Russian crude and oil products from Baltic and Black Sea ports.”

Environment

Oil prices falls more than 3% as Trump holds off on Iran strike, hopes for negotiations

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2 hours ago

June 20, 2025

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Oil prices falls more than 3% as Trump holds off on Iran strike, hopes for negotiations

U.S., Israel and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Oil prices fell more than 3% on Friday as President Donald Trump holds off for now on helping Israel to destroy OPEC member Iran’s nuclear program.

Global benchmark Brent fell $2.78, or 3.53%, to $76.07 per barrel. U.S. crude oil gained 84 cents, or 1.12%, to $74.30 per barrel.

Trump said Thursday that he would make his decision on striking Iran within the next two weeks, but wanted to provide space for potential negotiations to take place over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump said in a statement read aloud by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday.

Though Trump is holding back, Israel is escalating its attacks on Iran after eight days of conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israel’s military to intensify its strikes on strategic and government targets in Iran, after an Iranian missile hit a major hospital in southern Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

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Environment

Tesla releases details about ‘Robotaxi’ launch: there’s a ‘safety monitor’ in front seat

Published

2 hours ago

June 20, 2025

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Tesla releases details about 'Robotaxi' launch: there's a 'safety monitor' in front seat

Tesla has released the details about its planned ‘Robotaxi’ launch in Austin, Texas, this weekend, and it’s even worse than we thought. There’s going to be a “safety monitor” in the front seat.

Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing how Tesla’s planned launch of a “Robotaxi” service was a game of smoke and mirrors, meant to improve the optics of the automaker’s self-driving efforts as Waymo emerges as a clear leader.

The planned service is a geo-fenced and teleoperation-supported ride-hailing service operated by a small internal fleet, which is completely different from Tesla’s long-promised unsupervised self-driving in consumer vehicles through its “Full Self-Driving program.”

Furthermore, we have been reported on Tesla’s limited testing in Austin, which CEO Elon Musk claimed involved “no driver”, but test vehicles have all been spotted with Tesla employees in the front passenger seats with access to buttons to stop the car or have it pull over.

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In comparison, Waymo tested its vehicles for 6 months with a safety driver in the car and 6 months without a safety driver in the car in Austin before launching its commercial service earlier this year.

Now, Tesla has sent invitations to some known pro-Tesla influencers, primarily on Musk’s X social media platform, to experience the launch of the Robotaxi service this weekend.

The invitations confirm extreme limitations in the service, with the most significant one being the presence of a “safety monitor” in the passenger seat.

Here are the other requirements listed:

You must agree to Terms of Service, Rider Rules, Privacy Notice, and Service Animal Policy.
You must have a credit/debit card on file.
You can request a ride via the app from 6:00 AM to 12:00 AM, within the geofenced area (excluding airports).
Operational hours and geofence details are available in the app and may change.
Service may be limited or unavailable in inclement weather.
Only the invited user may download and use the Robotaxi app.
Participants must be courteous and respectful; unsafe or disrespectful behavior may lead to termination.
Riders should provide a star rating and feedback in the app.
Photos and videos of the experience are permitted.
Smoking, vaping, consuming alcohol, and using drugs are not permitted inside the Robotaxi.
Robotaxi may not be used in connection with any crime or to transport weapons or illegal/hazardous materials (e.g., flammable or combustible liquids).
Surveillance, reverse engineering, or recording of proprietary Robotaxi components or features is strictly prohibited.
Tesla may suspend or terminate access if:
- You violate any of these rules.
- You post or share content on social media that depicts misuse or violations inside the Robotaxi.

In short, Tesla’s “Robotaxi” service is going to launch with the supervision of Tesla employees in the front seat at all times. It’s limited to 6 am to 12 am and it doesn’t work in “inclement weather.

Electrek’s Take

Again, like I repeatedly said, this is all about optics. Tesla is just trying to get a win and say that it “launched its robotaxi on time in June” when this is basically Tesla’s public FSD with the supervising driver being moved to the passenger seat.

At least it’s going to be safer than if Tesla went without it, but it clearly shows that Tesla is falling far behind Waymo and the competition when it comes to self-driving.

The main thing that people like about Waymo and there are even willing to pay more than Uber is the fact that there’s no one else in the car.

This simply won’t scale. Tesla has yet to solve self-driving. It needs to focus on that instead of appearences.

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Environment

Podcast: Tesla Robotaxi launch, new Nissan Leaf, Ford low cost EVs, and more

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2025

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Podcast: Tesla Robotaxi launch, new Nissan Leaf, Ford low cost EVs, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the Tesla Robotaxi launch this weekend, the new Nissan Leaf, Ford’s upcoming low-cost EVs, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

Today, the episode is live at 8 a.m instead due to Fred’s travels in China.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

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After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 8:00 a.m. ET (or the video after 9 a.m. ET):

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