Despite Western bans and restrictions, Russia continued to export vast quantities of oil last year and managed to make up shortfalls by massively increasing shipments to countries such as China and India. And while Russian oil is selling at a discount in these Asian markets, the high price of the commodity globally for much of 2022 has helped to offset the markdowns.

In fact, the Russian Federation actually increased its oil output by 2% last year. At the start of 2023, however, the nation announced that it would be cutting its oil production by 500,000 barrels a day – or around 5% of its typical monthly output – from March onwards in response to global sanctions, which have included a price cap on Russian oil.

Although these cuts are likely to have an adverse effect on the global economy, Russia itself won't emerge unscathed from the plan; in January, the Kremlin's oil and gas revenues were down 46% from last year, according to Russia's own Finance Ministry, and further cuts should cause the numbers to fall further... or will it? The Bank of America is dubious, even predicting that Russia could reclaim its position as the world's number-one oil exporter despite ongoing sanctions.

Are Western sanctions on Russia really working?