Despite its own sanctions, which include a ban on Russian seaborne crude and coal imports and a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products, the European Union (EU) remained the top buyer of Russia’s fossil fuels, namely coal, oil, and gas over the past year.
According to the latest estimates by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the top five EU importer countries in the week through February 26 were Austria, Slovakia, Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic whereas Germany was the top buyer over the past year.
Earlier this month, CREA analysts reported that Russia has earned over $315 billion from international sales of its fossil fuels since the launch of its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
Around$149 billion, or about half of the total, came from EU member states.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) calculations show that Russia’s share of the EU’s gas demand is set to plunge from 40% to 10% after the EU’s pipeline gas imports from Russia dropped by 80% in the last year.
According to Julian Popov, a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Europe has clearly won the energy war with Russia which has seen the EU reducing its gas consumption by 20% while adjusting to gas shortages and high prices.
However, despite an 80% drop in pipeline gas imports from Russia one year after the start of its war in Ukraine, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into the EU from Russia last year were the highest in at least three years.
The bloc’s LNG imports from Russia, which currently face no sanctions or volume drops, increased last year by 31% and 35% compared to 2020 and 2021 volumes, respectively.
In 2022, the EU’s LNG imports from Russia reached 19.2 billion cubic meters – a three-year high- with monthly imports in May 2022 reaching 1.96 billion cubic meters.
In 2021, they stood at 14.2 billion cubic meters with 1.68 billion cubic meters registered on a monthly basis in December, whereas in 2020, the EU’s LNG imports from Russia reached 14.7 billion cubic meters.
