Russia has cut oil production to a year and a half low due to sanctions – intelligence

Russian oil companies cut crude oil production to 9.326 million barrels per day in December 2025, one of the worst figures in the past year and a half. The reason was the increased sanctions pressure from the West on buyers of Russian raw materials, which paralyzes export channels. About this reports SZRU.

The current production level is more than 100,000 barrels per day lower than in November and almost 250,000 barrels below the quota set under the OPEC+ agreements.

"This reduction was the largest since June 2024, highlighting the deepening structural problems of the industry, rather than temporary fluctuations," the intelligence agency noted.

Exports from Russian ports remain at 4 million barrels per day, but finding end buyers is becoming more difficult. Since the end of November, the volume of unsold oil has increased by 30 million barrels to 185 million barrels.

Low world oil prices make production less profitable. Under these conditions, Russian companies are not interested in increasing production to the OPEC+ quota of 9.574 million barrels per day.

"The combination of these factors indicates the systemic nature of the crisis in the Russian oil sector. Even if prices stabilize, Russia is unlikely to be able to quickly return to OPEC+ quotas," the SZRU wrote.

The drop in production means less foreign exchange revenue for the Russian budget in 2026. To compensate for the losses, Russia could raise taxes in other sectors, increase debt, or cut investment.

• On December 22, it became known that the real economic situation in Russia much worsethan the Kremlin wants to show.
• On January 7, the Foreign Intelligence Service reported that losses from economic crimes in Russia increased during 2025.
• On January 9, it became known that the Russian economy officially went into stagnation modeThe Kremlin can no longer hide the systemic crisis behind optimistic statements.