Russia economy meltdown as oil and gas revenues plummet by huge 27%

Russian oil and gas revenue has been tanking. (Image: Getty)

Russia's economy has taken yet another hammer blow as revenue from its two most vital exports tank. Oil and gas remain Moscow's most precious resources and a key source of fuel for its war economy, though they have been suffering recently. In July, the combined revenue was 787.3 billion rubles - a 27% drop compared to a year ago, the finance ministry said.

So far this year, total oil and gas revenues have dipped by 38% to 634.1 billion rubles, 543.4 billion of which came from oil companies - a 36% decline from last year. Revenue from gas also fell by a shocking 53% to just 51.1 billion rubles. Gazprom, the world's largest gas company in terms of reserves and a leading producer in Russia, reported exports to Europe hit their lowest levels in the early 1970s.

In June 2025, Russia exported 24.8 million tonnes of oil by sea. (Image: Getty)

The finance ministry originally thought oil and gas revenues would hit 10.94 trillion rubles by the end of the year, but this was revised to 8.32 trillion rubles - nearly a 25% drop, Business Insider reports.

The industry is facing threats from all sides, as the European Union unveiled its 18th package of sanctions against Russia last month.

It limits the price of oil per barrel to 15% below the global market average, slashing how much Russia can make.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov predicted this would cost Russia 1.5 trillion rubles a year, roughly 18% of the finance ministry's revised target.

He said: "This measure could place significant pressure on Russia’s economy, particularly federal revenues.

"Risks are heightened by the country’s continued dependence on resource-based income and its exports to jurisdictions where the price cap could be enforced through restrictions on insurance, logistics and payments."

This comes amid a staggering budget deficit of 3.7 trillion rubles, the equivalent of 1.7% of its GDP, reported in the first half of the year.

The finance ministry said fiscal spending in the first half of the year shot up by 20.2%, though revenues only increased by 2.8%.

Russia upped the estimated budget deficit for this year from 0.5% to 1.7% of GDP after the energy revenuye forecast was cut by 24% amid low oil prices and a tanking ruble.