EU's oil imports from Russia plunge 90% in March

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) - EU's oil imports from Russia plunged 90% in March compared with the average monthly figure in 2019-2022 due to the war-related sanctions, showed recent official figures.

The total imports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia into the EU27 plummeted to 1.4 million tons in March compared with 15.2 million tons on average in the three years to 2022, the Eurostat said in a statement on Monday.

The ban on imports of seaborne crude oil entered into force on Dec. 5, 2022, while the ban on petroleum products took effect on Feb. 5, 2023.

Russia's crude oil shipments to the EU dropped from 12.4 million tons in January 2022, before the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, to 3.7 million tons in December 2022.

EU's crude oil imports declined to 1.17 million tons in March.

Imports of petroleum products decreased from 3.3 million tons in January 2022 to 700,000 tons in February this year and decreased to 300,000 tons in March.