Germany saw an increase in crude oil import volumes of 11.1% during the first ten months of last year, new BAFA data showed on Friday, cited by Reuters. But the bill for that volume nearly doubled compared to the year prior at $55.98 billion.
Throughout 2022, Germany continued to lean heavily on Russia for crude oil, importing 27.2% of its total crude imports from Russia. Overall, Germany imported 73.6 million tonnes of crude oil in the first ten months of last year from all sources—up from 66.2 million tonnes in the same months the year prior. The price it paid for that crude oil in 2022, however, was 117.7% more.
The average price paid for a tonne increased 66.4% over the year-ago period.
Germany also took crude oil from the British and Norwegian Sea (23.5%), from OPEC nations (16.8%), and to a lesser degree, from Kazakhstan and the United States.
Germany stopped importing all crude oil from Russia via oil pipeline as of January 1 of this year, making good on its pledge to stop buying all Russian crude—even though the EU ban doesn’t apply to pipeline imports. Germany said earlier this month that it had secured alternate supplies.
Russia’s Tatneft claimed, however, that it had indeed received orders for crude from Germany, despite Germany’s assertion that it had not.
Germany has a long history of reliance on Russia for its energy supplies, giving it confidence in the past to craft plans to phase out its entire nuclear industry. But last Fall, German lawmakers voted in favor of keeping Germany’s three nuclear plants operating until April to provide Germany with a cushion until at least the winter months were behind it.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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