EU countries cut imports of Azerbaijani oil 23.8% to 12.3 mln tonnes in 9M

BAKU. Dec 9 (Interfax) - European Union countries imported 12.275 million tonnes of oil from Azerbaijan in January-September 2024, down 23.8% year-on-year.

The imports fell 21.9% in value terms to 7.532 billion euros, the EU statistics agency (Eurostat) said.

The five biggest EU importers of Azerbaijani oil were Italy, at 5.655 million tonnes, down 37.2% and valued at 3.44 million euros, down 35.9%; the Czech Republic at 1.923 million tonnes for 1.193 billion euros, up 34% and 37.1%, respectively; Portugal at 1.042 million tonnes for 640.165 million euros, both up 2.1-fold; Germany at 1.009 million tonnes for 626.11 million euros, up 26.9% and 31.2%, respectively, and Croatia at 1.032 million tonnes for 631.401 million euros, up 5.1% and 8.5%, respectively.

EU countries purchased 1.305 million tonnes of oil from Azerbaijan in September for 735.35 million euros, down 28.2% and 37.5%, respectively. This included imports of 410,909 tonnes by Italy for 223.468 million euros; 210,191 tonnes by the Czech Republic for 120.525 million euros, 180,205 tonnes by Romania for 99.606 million euros; 168,662 tonnes by Croatia for 95.087 million euros, and 137,389 tonnes by Portugal for 80.543 million euros.

As reported, EU countries imported around 20.3 million tonnes of Azerbaijani oil in 2023, valued at approximately 12.4 billion euros, respectively up 2.6% and down 18% from 2022, according to Eurostat.