BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – In the fourth quarter of 2023, the EU imported US$120.5 billion (€111.3 billion) worth of energy products amounting to a total of 187.9 million tonnes.
Compared with the same period in 2022, imports decreased both in value (-34.2 percent) and in net mass (-11.7 percent), according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
When comparing 2023 with 2022, the value of energy products dropped by 35 percent, while the volume dropped by 9.4 percent.
The change in the value of imports was largely driven by declining prices.
In 2023, the value of imported natural gas decreased by 52.2 percent compared with 2022, while the volume decreased by 16.1 percent.
This decline in natural gas prices followed a price surge in 2022 when a 200.4 percent increase in value was recorded alongside a 0.7 percent decrease in imported volume.
The volume decrease should be seen in the context of the EU reduction plan, where EU countries committed to reduce their gas consumption by at least 15 percent.
This plan initially covered the period from August 1 2022 to March 31 2023 but was extended to March 31 2024.
The decrease in petroleum oils prices led to a 17.2 percent decrease in value imported in 2023 alongside a 2.8 percent decrease in volume.
Petroleum oils also experienced rising prices in 2022, with the EU importing 71.2 percent more in value for a 7.7 percent increase in volume compared to 2021.
Most of the EU imports of petroleum oils in the fourth quarter of 2023 came from the United States (17 percent), followed by Norway (13.1 percent) and Kazakhstan (9.2 percent).
More than half of the natural gas in gaseous state came from Norway (53.4 percent). Algeria followed with 15.9 percent, ahead of Russia (12.7 percent).
The United States provided almost half of the imported liquified natural gas (49.4 percent), ahead of Russia (13 percent) and Algeria (11.1 percent).