Crude oil imports into the European Union fell by 8.8% over the first nine months of last year, Eurostat has reported, adding that the bill for these imports fell even more markedly amid lower international prices, by 18.3%.
In liquefied natural gas, on the other hand, volumes jumped by a sizable 25.9%, while the bill for these volumes swelled even more markedly, by 36.1%, Eurostat also said.
Over the third quarter of the year alone, the European Union imported 59.9% of its liquefied natural gas from the United States, with another 12.7% coming from Russia despite the sanctions, and another 7.7% came from Algeria.
In pipeline gas, Norway remained the largest supplier of the EU, delivering 51.8% of the total, followed by 14.6% coming from Algeria and the UK, which supplied 13.4% of the EU’s pipeline gas.
Norway was also the largest supplier of crude oil to the bloc, accounting for 14.6% of imports over the third quarter, per the Eurostat data. It was followed by the United States, with a share of 14.55, and Kazakhstan, which supplied 12.2% of the bloc’s total crude oil imports.
Crude oil imports from Russia dropped markedly over the first nine months of the year—and likely fell further in the final quarter of 2025 – with the bill for the nine months between January and September down from 5.8 billion euros in 2024 to 3.8 billion euros. This is equal to a drop from $6.74 billion to $4.42 billion.
Earlier this month, the European Union said it would lower the price cap it has on Russian oil imports in a bid to reduce the country’s income from energy imports, which Brussels considers key to the war in Ukraine. As of February, the cap will be set at $44.10 per barrel of crude for cargoes whose owners want to have Western insurance coverage.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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