Russia is exporting the most oil since invading Ukraine as Moscow has little trouble finding willing buyers, IEA says

• Russia's oil exports hit their highest since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, the IEA said.
• Crude oil exports reached a post-invasion high of 8.3 million barrels a day in April.

Russia in April exported the most oil since launching its war against Ukraine, highlighting Moscow's ability to continue selling one of its key commodities after it was hit with sanctions last year.

Oil exports hit a post-invasion high of 8.3 million barrels a day, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday, estimating the country didn't fully cut production by 500,000 barrels a day as it previously planned. Last year, Russia exported an average of 7.7 million barrels a day.

"Russia seems to have few problems finding willing buyers for its crude and oil products," the IEA said in its May market report.

Russia's revenue from oil exports rose by $1.7 billion last month to $15 billion, according to the IEA. But that take was 27% lower than the year-earlier period.

"Indeed, Russia may be boosting volumes to make up for lost revenue," the Paris-based organization said. Overall tax receipts from Russia's oil and gas sector declined 64% year over year.

The European Union used to be the largest market for Russia's oil exports, but the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin ended that.

The bloc – aiming to hammer down Russia's funds that keep its war running – imposed sanctions on Russia that slashed its oil exports to roughly 8% from 50%.

Meanwhile, Western nations also imposed price caps in Russian oil meant to weaken Moscow's export revenue, and Russia largely cut off Europe from natural gas supplies via pipeline.

China was already a buyer of Russian oil ahead of the war, but the energy importer has since increased its purchases. Meanwhile, India has ramped up imports of Russian oil sharply.

China and India now account for about 90% of Russian oil purchases, commodities analytics firm Kpler said recently.

Russia has discounted the price of its benchmark Urals crude blend to entice buyers, but Moscow recently moved to narrow that discount.