Putin’s state oil champion suffers biggest production drop

Putin’s state oil champion suffers biggest production drop

The state-run oil champion led by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin has seen the largest drop in production since the invasion of Ukraine.

Rosneft PJSC, whose Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin has been part of Putin’s inner circle for decades, along with its subsidiaries account for about two-thirds of Russia’s production cuts since the invasion of Ukraine, data from the Energy Ministry show. That’s about double the company’s share of national output, meaning Rosneft has been affected disproportionately.

“It’s arguably the largest sufferer of the last rounds of international sanctions,” said Viktor Katona, head of sour crude analysis at data and analytics firm Kpler. “Rosneft has become the main source of Russia’s production cuts.”