As a result of sweeping import restrictions imposed in response to the Ukraine war, imports of Russian oil into the EU have plummeted by 90 percent in a single year.
It’s official: the European Union is no longer the main buyer of Russian oil. In February 2022, the same month the Kremlin launched the full-scale invasion, the EU bought 15.189 million tons of Russian crude oil and refined products like diesel, kerosene and gasoline.
A year later, in February 2023, these imports amounted to 1.876 million tons. The following month, March, they continued to decline, reaching 1.445 million t. The massive void left by Russia has been filled by a number of countries including the United States, Norway, Algeria, Brazil, Angola and the United Arab Emirates.
Figures released by Eurostat highlight the impact of the sweeping ban on Russian oil agreed by EU leaders at the end of May after tough negotiations.
The ban applied to both crude oil shipped by sea and refined products shipped by sea, taking effect on December 5 and February 5, respectively. The timetable should help Member States to adapt to the radical change and the loss of their main energy supplier.
However, oil imports via the Druzhba pipeline were exempt from the measure at the request of landlocked countries in central Europe, notably Hungary, whose demands delayed the final passage of the ban.
The country breakdown of the March data shows that most of Russia’s crude was shipped to the three countries physically connected by Druzhba: Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
EU leaders had promised to reconsider the controversial Druzhba exemption, which was set indefinitely, but the issue remains untouched.
“Total oil imports from Russia did not reach zero because the bans provide for certain exceptions that allow limited imports under certain conditions,” Eurostat said in its press release.
The turmoil sparked by the Russian invasion has rattled the energy sector, prompting member states to release some of their oil reserves to contingency plans to calm market prices.
According to Eurostat, in March 2023 only five Member States – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania – were still below the national minimum level of oil security stocks.
Source : Euro News