Russia Set for Oil-Revenue Surge in Coming Weeks on Iran War
Halt to Black Sea crude shipments offset benefits of soaring prices last week, but they’re coming
Russia shipped 3.26 million barrels a day of crude in the four weeks to March 8, 2026.
Photographer: James MacDonald/BloombergRussia is set to be the first big winner from the Middle East war that sent oil prices above $100 a barrel. The gains should soon be reflected in flows to the Kremlin’s war chest, after its Black Sea export terminal was repaired following a Ukrainian drone strike.
Moscow is benefiting from the double win of soaring prices for global benchmarks, which also lifted Russian export prices, and the additional benefit of a US tariff waiver that allows Indian refiners to buy Russian crude that’s already on tankers.
That measure should help to clear the flotilla of idling tankers full of Russian crude, while further sanctions easing could follow, if flows of Middle Eastern crude through the Strait of Hormuz don’t resume soon. Still, President Vladimir Putin urged Russian energy producers to use the windfall wisely, cautioning that “the current high commodity prices are certainly temporary.”