Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been made possible due to the colossal revenues the Russian government has received from exporting oil and gas. [1] Oil is by far the largest source of Russia’s export revenue: it has been four times greater than the revenues from gas exports. [2] The European Union and several countries outside the EU (including the United States and the UK) have already made great strides toward reducing their import of Russian oil. [3] However, many countries still continue to import Russian oil and oil products, and some of them, especially China, India, and Turkey have even substantially increased it. [4]
The EU has also introduced a price cap on Russian oil. However, the price cap is not working as well as it might have been expected, among others, due to the lack of proper enforcement. [5] Moreover, the EU excludes third-party fuel oil products refined from Russian oil from the ban and the price cap. Thus, oil products (especially diesel) processed in Chinese, Indian, and Turkish refineries continue to flow to Europe in great quantities. [6] To add insult to injury, most of these oil and oil products are transported by Western companies. [7] Although the price cap did reduce Russia’s revenues, [8] Russia’s oil exports have not decreased [9] which means that they are still providing a substantial part of the revenues of the Russian government (this has been confirmed also by the International Energy Agency’s recent report). [10]
However, even a full ban on the import of Russian oil would not be sufficient due to the surging illegal and semi-legal trade of Russian oil. [11] Therefore, we all must do everything we can to reduce oil consumption.
Every Euro paid for Russian energy is a Euro that supports a murderous war, causing immeasurable suffering, killing children, destroying homes, decimating cities, resulting in millions of lost or war-torn lives, [12] and contributing to high inflation rate, food shortages, and mass migration all over the world. [13]
Everyone can contribute to depriving the Russian government of their oil revenues, for example, by reducing their consumption of petrol and diesel. [14]
We must act without any delay!
