Sanctions and drone strikes hit Russian oil: December production falls to lowest level in 18 months
9 January 19:50
In December 2025, crude oil production in Russia fell sharply — the largest decline in the last 18 months. According to Bloomberg, average production was 9.326 million barrels per day, which is more than 100,000 barrels less than in November and almost 250,000 barrels below the quota allowed by the OPEC agreement, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
Why it matters
The December decline was the largest since June 2024, a period when Russia was already forced to limit production under agreements with OPEC. Now the reduction has occurred outside of the plan, indicating structural problems in the industry.
What influenced the collapse
Analysts attribute the decline to two key factors:
- Western sanctions, in particular the recent large-scale restrictions imposed by the US against the two largest producers, Rosneft and Lukoil.
- Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure, which directly limit production and disrupt the operation of oil refineries.
Signs of pressure on exports
Against the backdrop of sanctions, Russian oil is accumulating at sea: some buyers are avoiding purchases due to the risk of secondary sanctions. This exacerbates the problem — even oil that has been extracted does not always find a market.
Until December 2025, production in Russia had been gradually increasing, which makes the current decline particularly significant. Earlier, it was also reported that the cost of Russian oil exports by sea had fallen to its lowest level since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
