Europe on oil, gas and coal. Sea ports ensure energy security

By Marek Grzybowski

The energy security of EU countries depends on seaports more than ever before. The Polish economy also lives thanks to Polish ports. This is despite the fact that imports of energy products to the EU decreased in 2024 compared to 2023, both in value and quantity – informs Eurostat in the latest report entitled “EU imports of energy products – latest developments”.

After Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the introduction of sanctions on trade with Russia, several beneficiaries came to the forefront of energy suppliers. A market niche was created, which was occupied by several countries. In 2024, the United States was the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas and petroleum derivatives to the EU. Norway, on the other hand, was the largest supplier of natural gas via pipeline transport last year. Until the end of 2021, Russia was the main supplier of crude oil and natural gas to the EU and a significant supplier of coal to several European countries, including Poland and Germany.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union periodically introduced a package of sanctions that directly and indirectly affected the import of crude oil and coal and the trade in natural gas. There is still much controversy surrounding the import of natural gas from Russia through EU ports. Although gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea were not launched, imports through other pipelines were limited, gas was imported through sea terminals. The refinery, chemical and energy industries of the European Union countries did not significantly reduce the demand for energy resources. The diversification of suppliers increased the role of sea ports, and within them, fuel and gas terminals, as well as bulk terminals.

Source: Eurostat, 2025 

Decrease in imports
The structure of the volume of imported energy resources has changed, and with it the structure of expenditure on energy and industrial security of European countries. Analysis of the latest data shows that in the EU’s trade in energy resources there was a decrease in imports in Q4 2024 compared to the same quarter of 2023.

This is a continuation of the trend observed since 2022. In Q4 2024, compared to the same quarter of 2023, the value of imported energy resources decreased by 15.3%, while the net mass decreased by 2.5%. Comparing 2024 with 2023, EU countries’ expenditure on energy resources decreased by 16.2%, while their net mass decreased by 7.1% – informs Eurostat.
The structure of the value of energy products in the total EU imports in 2020-2024 changed significantly. The share of energy products in total EU imports fluctuated significantly due to high price volatility. EU countries spent the most on energy raw materials in 2022. This resulted in their share reaching 22.8% of the value of total EU imports.

Source: Eurostat, 2025

A significant decrease occurred in 2023 after the market stabilized and the value of energy resources imported to EU markets decreased by 17.8%. This trend continued in 2024 and as a result, the value of energy resources in total exports decreased by 15.4%. In Q4 2024, the value of imported energy resources decreased by 3.2% compared to the same quarter of 2023.

We spend less on gas and coal

The analysis of the structure of imported resources shows that in 2023-2024, the costs of importing natural gas in liquefied form and natural gas delivered by pipelines decreased the most. The share of coal in value terms in total EU imports did not change significantly. Observing the last 3 years, one can notice the evolution of the volume of imports of energy products. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the volume of liquefied natural gas increased by 23.4% compared to the previous quarter and was 71.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2021, Eurostat calculates.

Source: Eurostat, 2025

The increase in imports of liquefied natural gas was justified not only by the drop in prices. The transshipment potential of terminals increased thanks to the launch of new facilities on both the supply and demand sides, including FSRU. The potential of maritime transport also increased.

The timeliness of deliveries improved. The volume of crude oil also increased (by 7.6%) between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2024. On the other hand, imports of natural gas in a gaseous state decreased significantly, by 43.0%, and coal by 21.8%.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to significant changes in the structure of the main suppliers of energy resources, which we can also observe in Polish ports. Due to the withdrawal of many countries from importing energy resources from Russia and subsequent sanctions packages, European ports experienced a siege of deliveries made via oil and LNG tankers and bulk carriers with coal.
We could observe the accumulation of coal supplies, among others. in the bulk terminals of Gdynia and the Northern Port, increased supplies of liquefied gas reached the terminal in Świnoujście. The Northern Port received record cargoes of crude oil and products. Until 2022, significant quantities of gas and crude oil were delivered to European markets by pipeline transport, which is clearly illustrated by statistics.

Source: Statista, 2025

Changing the geography of suppliers
For many years, EU countries were heavily dependent on imports of Russian energy resources. In 2008, 2012 and 2013, EU countries spent record amounts on energy resources imported from Russia.

Recall that in the case of crude oil and products, the EU introduced a ban on the import of Russian crude oil by sea, which came into effect on December 5, 2022. The embargo on refined products came into effect practically on February 5, 2023. The impact of these decisions was visible with some delay in seaports and refineries, in the chemical industry and power plants and heating plants.

Under the influence of sanctions, Russia as a direct supplier of oil and gas fell out of the top suppliers. High volumes of supplies of almost all energy products have decreased significantly since 2022.

Source: Statista, 2025

As a result of sanctions and changes in suppliers, in 2024 the EU’s largest partners in crude oil supplies were the United States (16.1%), Norway (13.5%) and Kazakhstan (11.5%). The largest increase between 2023 and 2024 was recorded from Kazakhstan (by 2.1%). Norway was the largest supplier of natural gas to the EU in gaseous form in 2024. Its share provided European industry and consumers with 45.6% of their needs. The next gas supplier to the EU last year was Algeria (19.3%). Third place was taken by Russia with a 16.6% share. Compared to 2023, Algeria’s share increased by 2.8%. However, supplies from the United Kingdom decreased by 5.2%.

In 2024, Russia’s share in liquefied natural gas supplies to the EU increased by 5.5%. compared to 2023. In 2024, Russia, with a share of 17.5%, was the second largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to the EU. – Last year, European Union countries spent EUR 6.3 billion on importing Russian LNG – reported Jakub Milszewski on the GospodarkaMorska.pl portal, citing the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA). We reported more about this here.

Russia was significantly ahead of the United States in LNG supplies, with a share of 45.3%. Despite changes in the geography of supplies and the dominance of the USA, in 2024 LNG tankers were still delivering gas from Yamal. – About 20% of Russian LNG reaching the EU is re-exported to third countries through European ports – Malte Humpert reported in High North News. A ban on transshipment and re-export of gas through Europe was introduced. But the operators are justifying it with long-term contracts for importing and exporting Yamal gas. So it is likely that the cargoes that were previously re-exported will simply remain in the EU, Humpert suggests.

Source: Eurostat, 2025

Today, most of Yamal’s gas supplies are sold to EU buyers under long-term contracts. Some are sold on the spot market. The percentage of sales on the spot market increased from 23% in 2023 to 33% in 2024, as the FT recently reported. France, Spain and Belgium were the largest buyers of Russian LNG.

85% of LNG imports reached our continent through the ports of these countries. While Spain and Belgium slightly reduced their imports of Russian LNG, France and the Netherlands increased imports by 81% compared to 2023.

If the new sanctions package launched in March this year works, the structure of imports is unlikely to change much. The new restrictions are also intended to limit support for new investments and services to complete LNG projects implemented in northern Russia. This does not change the fact that EU operators continue to buy Russian gas. Re-exports via EU ports to Asia account for only about 10% of Russia’s total LNG exports, according to the latest data from analytical firms.

Source: Eurostat, 2025

Russia was the largest supplier of coal to the EU in Q4 2021 with a share of 47.9%. The fifth package of EU sanctions introduced a ban on the purchase, import or transfer of coal and other solid fossil fuels to the EU if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia. As a result, Russia’s share of coal imports to the EU fell to zero in Q4 2022. The two main suppliers of coal to the EU market were Australia (37.3%) and the United States (32.3%) In 2024. The EU market has recently become a smaller recipient of Russian energy resources, according to CREA data based on information from Kpler, Marine Trafic and ENSOG from March this year.

Source: CREA, 2025

Trends in Gas, Oil and Coal
The EU market for crude oil imports increased in both value and volume between Q1 2021 and Q3 2022. Since then, both value and volume have declined. In Q4 2024, compared to Q1 2021, there was a 61% increase in spending on imported oil, while supplies only increased by 8%.

Imports of gaseous natural gas increased in value between Q1 2021 and Q3 2022, but there was a decrease in volume. Since then, both volume and value of gas imported via pipelines have declined. In Q4 2024, compared to Q1 2021, there was a 50% increase in spending and value of imported gas, but a 43% decrease in volume.

Source: Eurostat, 2025

Imports of liquefied natural gas increased between Q1 2021 and Q3 2022 in terms of both value and volume. This was noticeable in ports and regasification terminals. However, some of them recorded a significant decrease in utilization in 2024. – In the last two months, two key contracts were terminated, which puts the future of this segment of gas infrastructure in question. Problems affected the LNG terminals in Stade and Mukran, and the continued maintenance of FSRU units in Germany is becoming less and less certain – informed Mateusz Kowalewski in GospodarkaMorska.pl. We wrote more about it here.

Over the last two years, the value of imported liquefied natural gas has dropped significantly. This is the result of supply balancing with demand and falling gas prices, because the volume of imported gas decreased more slowly. In Q4 2024, the cost of imported LNG delivery increased by 311%, and its deliveries were only 72% higher compared to Q1 2021. Since January 2023, coal prices in international trade have fallen significantly. Coal imports have also decreased. As a result, EU countries checked less coal in 2023-2024 than in the critical months of 2022. Global spending on this energy resource has also fallen significantly.