Russia exports €63 billion worth of fossil fuels since war; Germany remains top buyer

Despite European Union announcements of several rounds of punitive measures against the Kremlin, a report claimed Moscow has exported a major chunk of its oil export to European countries. According to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Russia has exported €63 billion worth of fossil fuels after initiating a ravaging war on Ukraine. Surprisingly, Russia has generated a revenue of 71% from the European countries since it announced to minimise its dependence on Russian energy. Among the EU, Germany remains the top buyer of Russian gas, as per the report.

Notably, several European countries imposed sanctions on Russia for escalating the war on Ukraine, its intention to reduce its dependency on Russian oil and gas seems in trouble. The European countries at first approached the Gulf nations to meet their demands but after facing failure in securing a deal with the Gulf nations, it has turned towards the Middle East and the Mediterranean regions. It is worth mentioning that Europe depends on Russia for roughly 40% of its natural gas needs. Currently, the European leaders have vowed to reduce their dependence by two-thirds.

Gulf Cooperation Council denied supplying oil to EU

Earlier last month, the European leaders approached the gas and oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members to avert any energy crisis after limiting its dependency on Russian energy resources. The European leaders asked the GCC to increase the production of hydrocarbon. However, GCC reportedly denied delivering the need saying constraints in production and the fact that most of their future production is locked in long-term contracts with Asian clients. In March, this year, US, UK and Germany personally approached Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to increase the production of hydrocarbon but it seems their demands were dismissed there also. Besides, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck during his visit to Doha claimed Qatar has vowed to help Berlin in securing energy needs. "We might still need Russian gas this year, but not in the future," Habeck added. He also acknowledged that the previous German government had made a mistake by becoming dependent on Russian gas supplies.