EU imports of crude oil

Hamilton and Quinlan note that a similar shift happened in Europe’s oil markets. According to Eurostat, the share of oil imports from Russia dropped from 21 % in the second quarter of 2022 to 1 % 2 years later, whereas oil shipments to Europe from the US increased during this period, according to Kpler (see Figure 3). Indeed, in the third quarter of 2023 the US became the EU’s largest oil supplier, accounting for about 18 % of imports, the second and third suppliers being Norway, which accounted for 14 %, and Kazakhstan, accounting for 8 %. Of note in this context: the decrease in oil refers to direct imports of oil and can be explained among other things by the sanctions the EU adopted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; at the same time, Russia tries to circumvent these sanctions intensively. Two prominent examples are the use of its ‘shadow fleet’ – against which the European Parliament has called to impose more targeted EU sanctions – and the sale of crude oil to third countries such as India, which then refine it and export it to the EU.