Russia is pulling in less oil profits even though it's shipping more crude as buyers in Asia get huge wartime discounts

• Russia's crude exports rose in the week leading up to June 3 but profits were down about $9 million, or about 5%, per Bloomberg.
• Bloomberg data notes export duty rates slipped about 10% from $8.30 a barrel in April to $6.81 a barrel in May.

Russia's oil exports have ballooned to a six-week high but the warring nation is earning a smaller profit because buyers in Asia are snapping up crude at a discount.

According to Bloomberg data, seaborne crude shipments rose in the week leading up to June 3 to their highest rate since April. But total revenue fell by $9 million, or about 5%, the report shows, reflecting a lower per-barrel rate for the exports.

Total volume shipped out of Russia increased in the week leading up to June 3, as Russian vessels moved an average of 3.94 million barrels a day, Bloomberg reports — about a 10% jump compared to the week ending May 27.

Bloomberg data notes export duty rates slipped about 10% from $8.30 a barrel in April to $6.81 a barrel in May, as Moscow has been forced to offer discounted barrels to buyers in Asia as Western nations self-sanction.

India in particular has increased its buying of Russian oil. Over the course of May, Bloomberg data shows Indian ports saw about 660,000 barrels a day of Russian crude, compared to 270,000 barrels in April.

And, under a new agreement, India could look to import even more Russian oil as state-run refiners want to snag discounts directly from Rosneft PJSC.

At the same time, Russia has increasingly marked cargoes "destination unknown" since the war in Ukraine began, as a way to obfuscate the origin of the supplies to wary buyers.

The number of tankers moving out of Russian ports marked with unknown destinations increased leading up to June 3.

More and more, traders are developing creative ways to keep crude flowing amid the geopolitical conflict. A rare ship-to-ship cargo transfer occurred in the middle of the Atlantic in May, a far cry from the sheltered waters where transfers typically occur.

"As normal trade routes start to close for Russian crude and products, and as purchases are increasingly punished and vilified, we should expect to see more subterfuge and obfuscation in the months ahead," Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, told Insider Monday.