Oil exported to EU - U.S. at the top replacing sharply declining Russia

Recently CNN News on-line reported the following:

ＥＵへの原油輸出量、首位は急減のロシアに代わり米国

2023.04.01 Sat posted at 17:50 JST

ロンドン（ＣＮＮ） 欧州連合（ＥＵ）統計局は４月１日までに、域内への原油輸出で米国が首位に浮上し、昨年１２月時点での比率は１８％だったと報告した。この後に、ノルウェーやカザフスタンが続いた。

最近までロシア産原油が比率の首位を占めていたＥＵにとっては大きな転換となっている。ロシアによるウクライナ侵攻が契機となったもので、ＥＵはロシア産のエネルギー源の買い入れを減らし、同国の石油や石炭輸出に制裁策も打ち出していた。

同統計局によると、ロシア産原油のシェアは昨年１月末までは最大３１％で、大きな差が付けられていた２位の米国は最大１３％だった。

ロシアからの原油輸入は昨年９月から徐々に落ち込み始め、同１２月での全輸入量の中での割合はわずか４％に急減したという。

ＥＵは昨年１２月、海上輸送を通じてのロシア産原油の輸入禁止を決定。同原油の輸入価格に上限も設け、船荷主や保険企業らに１バレルあたり６０ドル（約７９８０円）以上での取引を禁じていた。

侵略が始まって以降、ＥＵ加盟国の一部はロシアの天然ガス輸入も削減し始め、ロシアは対抗策として欧州へのガス輸送を萎ませてもいた。昨年９月には技術的問題を理由に海底のガス輸送管の遮断に踏み切っていた。

ＥＵ統計局によると、ガスの輸入量におけるロシア産の比率は昨年の第１四半期（１〜３月）の３１％が同年末までには約１９％に減少。一方で２位の米国は約２０％で、首位のノルウェーが約３１％となっていた。

米国の欧州向けの原油輸出はウクライナ侵攻の開始前から増加基調にあったとの指摘もある。

欧州への原油輸出が縮小したロシアだが、インドや中国など新たな大手の輸入国は出てきている。

Translation

London (CNN) The European Union's statistical office said that by April 1, the United States had emerged as the number one exporter of crude oil into the region, with a share of 18% in December last year. This was followed by Norway and Kazakhstan.

This represented a major shift for the EU, which until recently was dominated by Russian oil. Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted the EU to reduce purchases of energy sources from Russia, and to introduce sanction on Russia's oil and coal exports.

According to the statistics bureau, Russia's share of crude oil reached 31% by the end of January last year, while the United States, which was a long way behind, had a maximum share of 13%.

Crude oil imports from Russia began a gradual decline in September last year, plummeting to just 4% of total imports in December.

In December last year, the EU decided to ban the import of Russian crude oil through sea transportation. It also set an upper limit on the import price of the crude oil, prohibiting shippers and insurance companies from trading at more than $60 (about 7,980 yen) per barrel.

Since the aggression began, some EU member states had also begun to cut Russian natural gas imports, and Russia also curtailed gas shipments to Europe in response. In September last year, Russia cut off the undersea gas pipeline due to technical problems.

According to EU statistics, Russia's share of gas imports fell from 31% in the first quarter of last year to about 19% by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the United States ranked second with about 20%, and Norway ranked first with about 31%.

It was also pointed out that US crude oil exports to Europe were on an upward trend even before the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's oil exports to Europe had shrunk, but new major importers such as India and China were emerging.

              So, the relationship between the US and EU is tightening due to Russia’s aggression into Ukraine. Globally, co-operation among major democratic countries, such as the G7 against China’s attempt to change the world order by force is also noted.