PUTIN LOCKS AWAY RUSSIA’S ENERGY DATA AS PRESSURE ON OIL SECTOR GROWS
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree restricting public access to extensive information about Russia’s fuel-and-energy sector.
The restrictions cover far more than basic supply totals. Russia will no longer publicly disclose detailed information about energy exports, including quantities, prices, sellers, buyers, carriers, insurers, vessels, transportation routes, terminals, destinations and payment arrangements.
The decree also restricts access to aggregated customs statistics, refinery processing and production volumes, planned sales of gasoline and diesel, and information about petroleum-product transactions conducted through Russian exchanges.
Moscow claims the restrictions are an urgent response to the “unfriendly” and allegedly unlawful actions of the United States and other governments and international organizations supporting sanctions.
The timing is significant. Russia’s energy industry is facing growing Western pressure, repeated Ukrainian strikes against refineries and terminals, and continuing disruption within the domestic fuel market. Removing these figures from public view will make it more difficult to measure refinery outages, trace sanctioned exports, identify Russia’s remaining customers and determine how severely the sector is being affected.
Russia cannot conceal burning refineries, interrupted production or shortages with a decree. It can only make the full scale of the damage more difficult to calculate.