Russia's major oil and natural gas companies saw their stock values nosedive on foreign exchanges during the past week amid the war in Ukraine, unlike their western peers, despite record-high energy prices.
Oil and natural gas prices climbed this week to their highest level in more than a decade with geopolitical risks surrounding the Russian war against Ukraine.
Energy prices have been on the rise since world economies have been recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, with global demand climbing but crude supply falling behind.
Rising prices have benefited American and European oil-producing companies' shares but that has not been the case for Russian firms. Their stocks are seen as highly risky assets amid Moscow's war in Ukraine and western allies' sanctions on Russia.
Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer, saw its stock price plummet Thursday to $0.56 on the London Stock Exchange with almost an 80% loss in a single day.
It marked almost a 90% decline since closing at $5.5 on Feb. 23, the day before Russia started its military campaign, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.
The stock price of Lukoil, another Russian oil producer, fell to as low as $0.25, posting a daily loss of more than 93%.
Lukoil's price nosedived 99.6% since closing at $71.72 on Feb. 23.
Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, saw its stock price dive to just 2 cents. It had a 99% loss in value in the past week.
The London Stock Exchange announced Thursday that it suspended trading of 27 companies with strong links to Russia "in light of market conditions and in order to maintain orderly markets." The companies include Rosneft, Gazprom, and Lukoil.
- Western energy companies
In the US and Europe, on the other hand, major oil and natural gas companies have been enjoying high prices that are having a positive effect on stock values.
ExxonMobil saw its stock price hit an all-time high of $82.15 Wednesday on the Samp;P 500.
While ExxonMobil shares were up almost 7% in a single week, they gained more than 33% since the beginning of 2022.
Another American major oil producer, Chevron, has seen its stock price climb to an all-time high of $156.98 on the Dow Jones.
Chevron shares gained almost 16% in the past week, while they increased almost 34% year-to-date.
In Europe, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell also saw gains.
BP's stock price increased 5.5% in a week to as high as £385.50 ($514.53) on London's FTSE 100 index. The British firm's shares were up almost 17% since the start of this year.
Shell saw shares climb almost 7% to £2,079 ($2,770) on the FTSE 100. The Anglo-Dutch firm's stock price gained 28% year-to-date.
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude producer, also significantly benefited from rising prices.
Its stock climbed to 45 Saudi riyals ($12), an 11% weekly increase, on the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul.
The Saudi crown jewel saw its price gain more than 26% since the beginning of the year.
Brent crude price soared to $119.78 Thursday -- its highest since May 2, 2012.
The international oil benchmark increased more than 23% in the last week, while it gained 54% since the start of 2022.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped to $116.50 -- its highest since Sept. 2, 2008.
The American oil benchmark WTI gained almost 55% year-to-date.
Crude prices plummeted during the early months of the pandemic, as mandatory quarantine measures around the world lowered global oil demand to historically low levels.
Since then, the price of Brent crude soared almost 650% when it had stood at $15.98 on April 22, 2020.
WTI price skyrocketed more than 1,090% since it had fallen to $10.07 on April 28, 2020.
The price of WTI had fallen into negative territory during April 20-21 of that year as storing crude was more costly than its sale.
