On Friday, RIA Novosti reported that in October, Russia delivered a record amount of crude oil to Brazil, and that it is now the third-largest supplier to its fellow BRICS member nation.
In September, Brazil resumed importing crude oil from Russia after having halted its Russian crude imports for two years, according to the outlet.
In October, Russia exported 207,000 tons of crude oil to Brazil, with a value of $133 million. The deliveries come as part of a strategy by Moscow to deepen its ties with its fellow BRICS member state as it seeks to develop new markets for its energy products following the imposition of Western sanctions which have largely cut it off from its previous Western customers.
RIA pointed out that the shipments in October were the largest in volume and value since records began being kept in 1997. Before this present record, the largest volume of Russian oil Brazil purchased came in May 2002, when it purchased 139,800 tons of Russian crude.
With its massive export volume, Russia took the spot of the third-largest supplier of crude to Brazil, just behind the United States, which supplied $346 million worth of crude, and Guyana, which supplied $187 million worth of crude. Coming in behind Russia were Algeria, which supplied $112 million worth of crude, and Saudi Arabia, which supplied $98 million worth of crude.
In addition to Brazil, Russia has found ample demand for its crude oil products from both India and China as well.
Following the imposition of an embargo on Russian oil by the EU and G7 nations, as well as a price cap the Western powers attempted to place on the purchases of Russian oil, Russia was forced to restructure its trade flows to nations which were not concerned with abiding by the sanctions and price caps. As part of that strategy, Moscow implemented discounts on its petroleum products to encourage potential new customers to make purchases, and buy from Russia before other suppliers.
Analysts say that Brazil is benefiting financially from its purchases of discounted Russian oil, especially as the government of Brazil seeks to reduce the costs of transport fuels in the country.
