Russia continues to defy international expectations with its “shadow fleet” of ships plying the oil-laden seas, avoiding Western sanctions and restrictions imposed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

This strategic move allows Russia to flood the global oil market, taking advantage of rising oil prices to maximize its financial gains.

Since the beginning of the year, Russia has repeatedly exceeded export quotas agreed with OPEC, exporting much larger quantities of permitted crude oil. In April, for example, Russian exports exceeded the set limit by about 490,000 barrels per day. Although it reduced shipments in the following months, Moscow was unable to fully make up for the initial surplus, leading to concerns within OPEC about Russia's compliance with the agreements, The Economista revealed.

Recently, data from Bloomberg revealed that Russian exports have returned to the rise in recent weeks, contrary to expectations that they will continue to decline. This upward trend came as a shock to observers, especially since Russia committed to adjusting the volume of its production to achieve the goals set by OPEC.

Moreover, Russia is exploring ingenious methods to circumvent Western sanctions, using ship-to-ship transfers that are similar to tactics used by other sanctioned countries, such as Iran.