Europe: Energy Imports Decline
Almost half of the LNG comes from the US, which is also a major source of oil, while heavy reliance on gas from Russia remains
The European Union is still very dependent on foreign countries for its energy needs. However, imports declined in the second quarter of 2024. This follows from the data of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat): Brussels has purchased €94.9 billion worth of energy, totaling 177.9 million tons from April to June 2024. Compared to the same period in 2023, there was a decrease in both value (-10.7%) and volume (-9.7%).
Overall – again, comparing the second quarter of 2024 to 2023 – there was a slight increase in the value of imported petroleum oils (+5.6%) and a decrease in volumes (-2.2%). However, for piped gas, the decrease amounted to 31.4% (-9.5% by volume); for LPG, the trend was even sharper: -41.2% by value and -20.2% by volume.
As for the countries from which the EU imported oil, the USA accounted for the majority (15.1%), followed by Norway (14.1%) and Kazakhstan (11.7%). For piped natural gas, Norway tops the list with 43.5%, followed by Algeria with 21.6% and Russia with 15.5%; for liquefied natural gas, 46% comes from the USA, followed by Russia (16.8%) and Qatar (11.9%).
