Shares of Russia’s largest oil companies – “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” – fell sharply after the US imposed sanctions on them and their subsidiaries. The combined losses amounted to several billion dollars. This is reported by Russian media.
In two days, according to stock exchange data, the total capitalization of both companies decreased by 424 billion rubles, or 5.2 billion dollars. “Rosneft” shares fell by 3%, which means a loss of about 1.56 billion dollars. “Lukoil” fell even more – by 7.2%, which is equivalent to losses of 3.66 billion dollars.
The main owner of “Lukoil”, the richest Russian billionaire Vagit Alekperov, also suffered significant losses, losing more than 83 billion rubles, or a little more than a billion dollars, in two days.
Experts note that this is only the beginning of problems for the Russian oil giants. “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” risk losing counterparties and positions in foreign markets. During the year, the companies have already faced a significant drop in financial indicators several times: “Rosneft”’s profit has decreased threefold, and “Lukoil” — twice.
Due to US sanctions, “Rosneft” may lose part of its oil supplies to India, and “Lukoil” may lose trading operations in Dubai. 36 subsidiaries of both companies have also been restricted, which effectively makes it impossible to find workarounds.
Against the backdrop of sanctions, India’s largest oil holding company, Reliance Industries, has purchased millions of barrels of oil from the Middle East and the US, effectively confirming its rejection of Russian oil.
Chinese state-owned oil companies have also suspended seaborne purchases of Russian oil after the introduction of US sanctions against “Rosneft” and “Lukoil”, which led to a reduction in supply by at least 500 thousand barrels per day.
As a reminder, on October 23, the US announced sanctions against the two largest Russian oil companies – “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” – in order to force Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table with Ukraine. The main companies and 36 of their subsidiaries fell under the restrictions.
