Hormuz

Russia exploits the Hormuz crisis to boost energy exports to Asia

Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, Russia has appeared to be among the countries that could gain the most from it, especially on the sale of oil and gas. And in front of the Kremlin's gates there would already be a queue

by Antonella Scott

7 April 2026

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2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

For us, the Strait of Hormuz remains open, it is only closed to enemies," points out Jurij Ushakov, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vladimir Putin. He confirms Moscow's inclusion in the small group of 'friendly nations' to which the Iranians have allowed commercial navigation in the sea corridor at the centre of the conflict between Tehran, Israel and the United States.

Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, Russia has appeared to be among the countries that could gain the most from it: 'The threat of a NATO split, the easing of sanctions, the serious energy crisis in Europe, the suspension of aid and loans to Ukraine,' Polish premier Donald Tusk listed in recent days, 'all of this sounds like a dream plan for Putin'.

Il sospiro di sollievo dei mercati

According to Argus Media data reported yesterday by Bloomberg Agency, the global oil rally allowed prices of theRussian Urals variety to soar to 13-year highs: $116.05 per barrel touched last week, more than double the $59 budgeted for in the 2026 federal budget.

An estimate that only a month ago seemed too optimistic: but which now allows the Kremlin to revise its plans, to postpone the spending cuts and fiscal prudence that the drop in energy revenues seemed to have made inevitable. So the hope that the difficulties in the economy might induce the Russian president to seek a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine seems frozen for the time being.

The 'cease-fire' for the Russian accounts will of course depend on the duration of a crisis that has experienced violent swings: but the easing of American restrictions on Russian oil sales, rising prices and the worldwide search for alternative sources to Gulf supplies give the Russian authorities the excuse to present themselves as part of the solution. Russian oil cannot be dispensed with, they repeat.

And at the Kremlin's gates there would already be a queue. "Now that the world has slipped into a rather serious economic and energy crisis, and it is getting worse by the day," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday, "the market and resource situation has transformed. And the number of requests to buy our energy resources is huge, from different sides. We are negotiating following our best interests'.

Gli antidoti al caro energia, la crisi della logistica e il decreto Sicurezza

Peskov clarified that the demands do not concern Europe. The increase in demand from Asian countries - Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka - has, however, reduced the 'discount' to which the Russians had been forced by sanctions, which increase risks and logistical and insurance costs.

Even more than oil, Russia could prove to be one of the few alternatives capable of rapidly increasing production in the face of the liquid natural gas deficit.

And if Europe, as Peskov sees it, continues to 'shoot itself in the foot' - Russian gas and oil will be completely banned in the EU as of 2027 - at the start of the Iranian war, Putin had quickly shown himself willing to go back to working with the best customers of the past: if the Europeans, he specified, 'were ready to re-establish long-term sustainable cooperation with us, free of political pressure, we have never refused it'.