Russian oil imports into the European Union and United Kingdom fell 35% to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in August from 2.6 million bpd in January, but the EU was still the biggest market for Russian crude, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
On Wednesday, Poland said it had detected a leak in one pipeline in the Druzhba system that carries oil from Russia to Europe, an event that will add to concerns about Europe’s energy security after the Nord Stream gas pipeline leak.
The UK has already stopped importing Russian crude and the EU will ban imports from December in an attempt to strip the Kremlin of revenue to fund the war.
So far imports from the United States have replaced about half the 800,000 barrels of lost Russian imports, with Norway providing around a third.
The United States could soon overtake Russia as the main crude supplier to the EU and the UK combined - by August, US imports lagged those from Russia by just 40,000 bpd compared with a 1.3 million bpd pre-war average, according to the IEA.
Outside the EU, Russia’s top crude oil export markets are China, India and Turkey.
Alternatives to Russian crude
Under the looming ban, the EU will need to replace an additional 1.4 million barrels of Russian crude, with some 300,000 bpd potentially coming from the US and 400,000 bpd from Kazakhstan, the IEA has said.
Norway’s largest oilfield Johan Sverdrup, which produces medium-heavy crude similar to Russia’s Urals, also plans to ramp-up production in the fourth-quarter, potentially by 220,000 bpd. The IEA says imports from other areas such as the Middle East and Latin America would be needed to fully meet EU demand.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2022.
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