LONDON - Russian crude oil production rose slightly in January despite the latest round of U.S. sanctions on its oil and maritime industry, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest monthly oil market report on Thursday. 

The Paris-based agency said that the sanctions create major risks for Russia's energy sector, but new deceptive shipping practices could be used to help to sustain exports.

"Workarounds to sustain Russian export volumes may well appear in the coming weeks," the IEA said.

The sanctions announcement helped to propel oil prices $8 higher to five-month highs in mid-January, but those gains were all but reversed by the end of the month on growing concerns over the global economy and the potential impact from emerging trade wars, the IEA added.

(Reporting by Robert Harvey and Alex Lawler in London Editing by David Goodman )