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Moscow’s revenues from oil exports in February 2026 totaled $9.5 billion, according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly report. The figure marked a new low since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, noted the independent Russian economics-focused publication The Bell.
Compared with January, Russia’s February oil export revenues fell by $1.5 billion. Year over year, the figure also worsened. In February 2025, revenues were $4 billion higher. Total export volumes last month also fell by 850,000 barrels a day, to 6.6 million, which the IEA estimates is also a record low since 2022.
Among the key reasons for these results, IEA experts cited discounts on Russian oil stemming from sanctions, infrastructure damage from Ukrainian drone strikes, a halt in oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, and reduced exports to India, which in recent years has been the main buyer of Russian oil.
The war in the Middle East, however, has already had a serious impact on the price of Russian oil. From Feb. 27 to March 10, the price of Urals crude rose by $17.35, to $58.29 a barrel, Forbes noted. Production cuts by Persian Gulf countries could raise demand for Russian oil. That has already happened with India. Last week, the United States issued a temporary waiver allowing Indian refineries to buy Russian crude, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaling the possibility of the further easing of sanctions on energy supplies from Russia.
“We may unsanction other Russian oil,” Bessent told Fox Business' “Kudlow” program on March 6. “There are hundreds of millions of sanctioned barrels of sanctioned crude on the water and in essence, by unsanctioning them, Treasury can create supply, and we are looking at that.”
Finland’s Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) agrees that sanctions relief and demand for Russian oil could affect the discount buyers receive, thereby working to Moscow’s advantage. CREA named China as the largest buyer of Russian oil in February, followed by Turkey and India. According to the center, India’s imports of Russian oil in February fell by 19%; however, Russia remains its largest supplier, providing about 20% of total deliveries. China accounted for 52% of Russia’s export revenue in February, about 5.7 billion euros.
CREA also provides relative measures of changes in Russian exports, but they notably do not confirm the IEA’s figures. According to the Finnish center, Russia’s monthly revenues from crude oil exports in February 2026 actually rose by 13% from the previous month, totalling around 492 million euros a day. CREA also reported that Russian export volumes in February rose slightly, by 1% compared with January.