Bloomberg: Russia's Oil Exports Through The Baltic Sea "freezes" Along With The Gulf Of Finland

• 19.02.2026, 12:38

Ports can be closed.

On February 18, it became known that Russia has a new significant problem with oil exports due to the icing of the Baltic Sea. The key ports of Primorsk and Vysotsky have prohibited entry of ships without ice class and individual escorts for ice drifts. Near the ports, as a result, queues of ships have grown, accumulating for at least a week. This is reported by The Bloomberg.

Russia's "black gold" exports are falling catastrophically, for example, in the same Primorsk reduced to 490 thousand barrels per day, which is more than 30% less than in 2025, and 50% less than in 2024. Russia is under pressure from several factors at once: first, icing in the Gulf of Finland, through which 40% of oil exports by sea passed.

The second problem is Europe's and the United States' fight against Vladimir Putin's "shadow fleet." Its reduction has led to a shortage of the necessary tankers to transport oil: they now have to be moved from the Arctic. At the moment there are at least six of them in the Gulf of Finland.

The above ports, as well as Ust-Luga from March 1 could be completely closed to tankers even with icebreakers, if the ice thickness increases by 30-50 cm.