Western oil corporations are reporting significant profit increases amid a reduction in oil product exports from Russia, a result of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries. In September, shipments of Russian oil products by sea decreased by 500,000 barrels per day, reaching about 2 million barrels per day — the lowest level in the past five years.
This is reported by Business • Media
Profits of Western Energy Giants
- The reduction in supplies from Russia has led to increased margins for leading oil companies, including Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and TotalEnergies.
- These companies have refining capacities of approximately 11 million barrels per day, which exceeds 10% of global refining capacity.
- In the third quarter of 2025, their refining profits increased by 61% compared to the previous quarter, contributing to an overall profit growth of 20%.
Additionally, Western companies benefited from U.S. sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, which account for about 5% of global oil supply volumes.
Russian Gas Exports to Europe Fell to Historic Lows
According to Reuters, Russian gas exports to European Union countries have dropped to their lowest level in over half a century. During the first ten months of 2025, Gazprom transported only 14.7 billion cubic meters of gas to European consumers via the Turkish Stream — a 45% decrease compared to the same period last year. In 2024, 12.9 billion cubic meters of gas were supplied through Ukraine, but the transit contract was terminated. At the current pace, the annual export volume to the EU could be around 18 billion cubic meters, marking the lowest level since the early 1970s when the USSR began exporting gas to Austria.
“Since then, volumes have collapsed tenfold, and Gazprom’s gas business has become unprofitable. From January to September, the company lost another ₽170.3 billion. Last year, gas extraction and sales resulted in a net loss of ₽1.08 trillion for Gazprom.”
For comparison: in 1975, Europe received 19.3 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, in 1980 — 54.8 billion, and by the early 1990s — 110 billion cubic meters. The peak of supplies was recorded in 2018-2019, when Gazprom exported 170-180 billion cubic meters, accounting for 80% of all foreign sales. Since then, gas export volumes have fallen nearly tenfold, and Gazprom’s operations have become unprofitable.