BRUSSELS, April 15. /TASS/. The European Union’s import dependency for crude oil and petroleum products surged to a new record high of 97.7% in 2022, the Eurostat statistical agency reported. This increase came after a significant decline in import dependency in 2021 to 91.6%.

"The import dependency recorded in 2022 resulted from a combination of changes in net imports (+9.5%), with imports rising by 4.9% and exports declining by 1.7%, and gross available energy going up by 2.8%," the agency said. The increase in dependency was also driven by a stock buildup of 8.3 mln tonnes of oil equivalent. The buildup helped refill some of the crude oil and petroleum used up in 2021, when the biggest yearly usage (20.2 mln tons of oil equivalent) was recorded. Restocking in 2022 contributed to the increased import dependency.

The dependence on imported crude oil also increased in 2022, reaching 97.6%, the agency added.

The increase in import dependency coincided with considerable changes in import origins. "In May 2022, the European Commission implemented the plan to reduce its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. In 2022, imports of oil and petroleum products from Russia decreased by 24.57 million tons. This decrease was compensated by increased imports from Saudi Arabia, United States and Norway," Eurostat said.