Russia's crude oil exports to China increased by 23% in December compared to November, while exports to India declined by 29% over the same period, the Finnish Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air stated in its latest monthly update on Russian energy exports.
CREA noted that oil exports to China in December contributed to an 11% rise in total Russian exports. The report added that China boosted its purchases of Russian oil the most in December, with purchases of ESPO crude specifically reaching the highest level in four months.
India, meanwhile, curbed its intake of Russian crude last month under threat of more U.S. tariffs. This brought the total to the lowest amount since the G7 imposed a price cap on Russian oil shipments insured by Western companies.
According to a Reuters calculation from mid-December, Russian oil flows to India remained above 1 million barrels daily at that time. However, this represented a sharp drop from a daily average of 1.77 million barrels in November.
Exports of liquefied natural gas rose to Europe in December. According to CREA, Russian LNG purchases by France jumped by 18% last month, and purchases by Spain increased by 27%. All European Union members are bound by new legislation to cut off all imports of Russian LNG by the end of this year. As a result of these substantial increases, total LNG exports in December rose 16% month-on-month to the highest level for 2025.
Revenues from overall exports of liquefied natural gas from Russia rose by 13% in December, while revenues from crude oil exports fell by 12%, CREA said. The latter decline was driven by a 16% drop in revenues from seaborne exports specifically, following a 12% decrease in seaborne export volumes.