3.16.2014

About energy, Russia more relies on Europe

Europe's energy dependence on Russia is attracting attention again following the tension in the Crimea peninsula.

About 40% of petroleum supply in Europe comes from inside the region in 2012, while 28% is supplied from Russia. The amount of import from Russia is much bigger than 11% from the Middle East and 7.6% from North Africa. The 5.8 million barrels per day of Russian oil supply can not be replaced by the other source easily.


Around 45% of natural gas supply in Europe is also provided by local production. Russian exports are account for 23% of the natural gas supply into Europe.


Data show that dependence of petroleum is relatively larger than natural gas at moment.
Europe's petroleum dependence on Russia was not so large in 1990's, since oil production in the former Soviet Union region shrunk significantly during collapse of the Socialist Empire.


However, European countries have increased petroleum procurements from Russia due to the steady production recovery in the former Soviet region. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and competition of procurement with Asia and the United States in the area also encouraged Europe to increase oil imports from Russia.

About distribution of energy, Russia more relies on Europe.
In 2012, about 65% of total natural gas exports by Russia including liquefied natural gas to Asia headed to Europe.


About 67% of petroleum exports by the former Soviet Union area was shipped to Europe. As for only Russia, nearly 90% of its petroleum exports were directed to Europe.


Therefore, Russian economy could be damaged significantly, even if Europe reduces energy procurement slightly.

However, European countries cannot shift natural gas supply sources easily even if Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations already have huge LNG supply capacities. Number of LNG tankers and port unloading facilities are not enough.

On the other hand, petroleum supply could be changed relatively easily if refineries accept inconveniences by the difference of crude oil grades. In a sense, current tensions in Crimea or news reports about that seem like sales promotion for North American crude oil.

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