The Russian ruble traded close to 85 per USD, hovering near its 18‑month low of 87, as the country’s fuel crisis disrupted foreign exchange inflows. Throughout August, Ukraine launched a series of strikes on Russian oil facilities and refining infrastructure. As a result, Russia’s petroleum output fell by 160,000 barrels per day to 8.718 million bpd, marking the second-steepest monthly decline this year.
Simultaneously, attacks on major Russian refineries curtailed gasoline and diesel production capacity, prompting Moscow to impose a ban on fuel exports and temporarily turning Russia into a net importer of refined products. This shift triggered a sharp reversal in both goods and capital flows across the Russian financial system, pulling foreign currency out of the country and driving the ruble down from a three-year high of 71 on May 28th to its current 18‑month low.
At the same time, the supply of rubles increased as the federal government was compelled to issue substantially more debt to compensate for collapsing energy revenues.
