European Union Oil Imports: Russia to Overtake the U.S. in 2025

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The European Union is the world’s second-largest importer of seaborne crude oil, having briefly overtaken China in 2022. Seaborne imports into the bloc increased by 4.7% year-on-year to 472.4 million tons in 2023, with the EU accounting for 21.9% of global seaborne crude oil imports. In 2024, oil imports to the EU-27 increased by 10% year-on-year to 396.8 million tons, according to Banchero Costa Research in its latest report from September 2025.

The European Union may become the world’s leading oil importer. This will happen if EU countries take President Donald Trump’s words seriously. Russia overtook the United States in oil supplies in 2025. This undoubtedly angered President Donald Trump, who wrote on the Truth Social website on Saturday that he had sent a letter to all NATO countries “around the world.”

Trump declared that he was ready to impose strong sanctions on Russia provided that all NATO countries stopped buying Russian oil. “I am ready to impose serious sanctions on Russia when all NATO countries agree and start doing the same, and when all NATO countries stop buying oil from Russia,” Trump wrote in the post.

Rotterdam Open to US Oil
The Netherlands is the European leader among US oil importers, followed by non-European countries: South Korea, Canada, and India. In 2024, the Netherlands imported US$23.61 billion worth of crude oil into the European market through its ports. This represents 19.9% ​​of US exports. In 2024-2025, the Netherlands was the largest recipient of US crude oil for another consecutive year.
Rotterdam has a well-developed oil storage and distribution system. This ensures an average crude oil distribution of 825,000 barrels per day. With these volumes received from ships, this represents a 32% increase compared to the previous year, according to analyses by the US Import Data blog.
By comparison, South Korea is the second-largest importer of US crude oil, with its value exceeding US$13 billion in 2024. Canada, the US’s northern neighbor, ranked third with imports of over $10 billion in 2024. Last year, the UK imported $8.54 billion worth of US crude oil by tanker, with a 7.2% share of the US supply market.

Spain imported $5.76 billion worth of US crude oil by tanker, approaching a 4.9% market share. Spain is a significant market for US crude oil, with imports exceeding $5 billion annually. The country’s strategic location in Europe and high energy demand make it an attractive market for US crude oil.

France rounds out the list of the 10 largest partners using US crude oil by sea. With imports exceeding $4 billion in 2024, France has only a 3.6% market share of US supplies. The country’s diverse energy needs and well-developed oil infrastructure make it a significant market for US crude oil exports, emphasize the authors of the US Import Data blog.

Global oil market slowdown
Global crude oil imports increased by only 0.4% year-on-year to 2,194.6 million tons in the January-December 2024 period (excluding all cabotage trade), Banchero Costa Research analysts note based on an analysis of LSEG ship tracking data. 2025 started even worse, and the situation did not improve significantly in the summer. Analyses of crude oil tanker traffic in the January-August 2025 period show that the supply of crude oil transported between ports decreased by 0.6% year-on-year to just 1,462.4 million tons.
Exports from the Persian Gulf increased only slightly, by 0.7% year-on-year to 586.5 million tons in the January-August 2025 period. 40.1% of the crude oil was introduced from terminals into the maritime crude oil trade market. Exports from Russian ports (including crude oil of Kazakh origin) fell by 4.0% year-on-year in the period under review in 2025 to 149.7 million tons. This secured Russia a 10.2% share of global oil supply in international trade. Supplies from South America increased by 7.5% year-on-year to 140.6 million tons (a 9.6% market share).

From Southeast Asia, exports fell by 10.8% year-on-year to 74.4 million tons by August 2025 (inevitably reflecting changes in the volume of re-exported crude oil from Russia). From the US, exports fell by 12.6% year-on-year to 118.6 million tons in the January-August 2025 period. This left the United States with only an 8.1% market share. This may be the reason for Trump’s call to end imports of Russian oil and simultaneously increase imports from the US.

The PRC industry was the largest importer of crude oil by sea until August 2025. Mainland China generated 22.5% of global crude oil trade. This occurred despite import volumes to China falling by 4.0% y/y to 327.0 million tons in the January-August 2025 period. Imports to the EU-27 decreased by 4.5% y/y to 305.6 million tons. Imports from ASEAN countries increased by 6.0% y/y to 189.3 million tons.


These figures also include imports from Russian ports, which were later re-exported to other parts of Asia. India increased its imports through oil terminals by 1.2% year-on-year to 158.6 million tons in 2025. US imports decreased by 10.5% year-on-year to 82 million tons in the January-August 2025 period, according to Banchero Costa experts.

European Union in Second Place
The European Union is once again the second-largest importer of crude oil by sea. Tanker imports to the European Union (EU-27) increased by 4.7% year-on-year to 472.4 million tons in 2023. EU countries account for 21.9% of global seaborne crude oil imports. In 2024, oil imports to the EU-27 increased by 1% year-on-year to 396.8 million tons. In the January-August 2025 period, imports fell by 4.5% year-on-year to 305.6 million tons.

About 13% of crude oil volumes unloaded at crude oil terminals in EU seaports in the January-August 2025 period were transported by VLCC tankers, about 40.5% by Suezmax tankers, and about 44.2% by Aframax vessels.

The largest volumes of crude oil in the January-August 2025 period were unloaded at the fuel terminals in the ports of Rotterdam (66.9 million tons), Trieste (25.9 million tons), and the North Port in Gdańsk (23.4 million tons). Oil was imported by tankers and was also collected from the ports of Fos (13.6 million tonnes), Le Havre (12.7 million tonnes), Wilhelmshaven (10.9 million tonnes), Cartagena (9.1 million tonnes), Sarroch (8.7 million tonnes), Augusta (7.2 million tonnes).

In terms of supply sources, significant changes have occurred in recent years following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Following the imposition of sanctions by many EU countries, crude oil imports from Russian ports (including oil from Kazakhstan) reached their lowest level. They rose slightly by 1.3% year-on-year in January-August 2025 to 41.3 million tons. This figure is still almost half that of 73.8 million tons in January-August 2022.

Russia – Trade Threatened by Drone Attacks
Novorossiysk remains the largest source port for crude oil imports to the EU. Russia shipped 38.6 million tons from this port in January-August 2025. This is despite the port being systematically attacked by Ukraine. On September 11, 2025, Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR) launched a strike on a Black Sea Fleet vessel there. An unmanned vehicle attacked the MPSV07, disabling it and destroying its electronic equipment. Earlier, on May 3, 2025, a drone attack triggered a state of emergency in the city.

UAV attacks also include maritime operations, during which Ukrainian naval drones were used to attack targets in the port. On Friday, tankers docked at the terminal of Primorsk, a port on the Baltic Sea, were also attacked. As a result of Friday’s drone attack by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on the Russian port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea, two shadow tankers, the Kusto and the Cai Yun, were damaged. According to the agency, these vessels sail under the Seychelles flag.

Reuters reported that Russia’s largest oil export port on the Baltic Sea has suspended operations following a drone strike, citing Ukrainian armed forces sources. In 2024, exports of Russian oil products through Baltic Sea ports, including Primorsk, fell 9% to 61.96 million tons. Data from the end of 2024 also indicate that Russian Urals crude oil has consistently remained below the G7 price ceiling of $60 per barrel. Prices in Primorsk averaged $52 to $55 per barrel in 2025. This allows for legal transport by tankers insured by Western companies.

Russian ports have now fallen to third place in terms of the volume of crude oil tanker shipments to the EU. EU countries secured 13.5% of crude oil imports by August 2025. North African terminals (including Sidi Kerir) were a significant supplier, with a 19.9% ​​share. Supplies from North Sea wells were also significant (19%). EU countries imported only 13.2% of crude oil from US fuel terminals. Imports from North Africa (including Sidi Kerir) fell by 0.4% y/y to 60.9 million tons in the January-August 2025 period. Supplies from the North Sea (Norway and the United Kingdom) fell by 1.5% y/y to 58.2 million tons during the same period. Imports from the United States decreased by 20% y/y to 40.3 million tons. Supplies from South America to Europe increased by 8.2% y/y to 28.4 million tons. Supplies from Turkey (Ceyhan) fell by 1.8% y/y to 13 million tonnes in January-August 2025, analysts calculated.