How much oil does the UK import from Russia? Business News

As Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine grows increasingly vicious, punitive economic sanctions imposed on Russia by Western governments continue to bite, causing the value of the ruble to plummet against the US dollar and forcing the bank central Moscow to increase its primary inflation rate and introduce capital controls.

Meanwhile, foreign companies and brands are reconsidering their business relationships with the country, with McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Hermes, Chanel, Netflix, Spotify and Prada severing all ties in opposition to the tentative takeover.

Ukraine has meanwhile released a list of other international companies still operating in Russia in the hope of enticing them to follow suit.

Ending the West’s energy dependence on Mr. Putin’s oil and gas exports, however, promises to be more complex, with Europe already hit by inflation, the rising cost of life and skyrocketing gas prices before the conflict began, as well as market instability that has driven up the price of oil and diesel on the forecourt over the past two weeks.

Figures from data firm Experian Catalist showed the average cost of a liter of petrol at UK service stations was up 159.6p on Wednesday, from 158.2p on Tuesday.

The average cost of a liter of diesel meanwhile hit a new high of 167.4p on Wednesday, down from 165.2p on Tuesday.

In this context, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng nevertheless announced on Tuesday that the United Kingdom would end its imports of Russian oil by the end of the year as an additional sanction, saying that the government “was relying on our existing sanctions which are already crippling Putin’s war machine”. and planned to work with the US, EU and other trading partners to find alternative sources of hydrocarbons.

Britain would not do so with immediate effect, he said, to give supply chains and support businesses enough time to adjust to what will be a drastic transition.

The UK imported £4bn of Russian oil in 2021 – £3bn of refined oil and £1bn of crude oil – according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

“Russian imports account for 8% of total UK oil demand, but the UK is also a major producer of crude oil and petroleum products, in addition to imports from a wide range of reliable suppliers around the world. beyond Russia, including the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and the United States,” Downing Street said in a statement announcing the decision.

Norway, Canada, Sweden and Belgium are also key exporters to Britain.

The Downing Street figure comes from the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2020, which also reveals that Russia accounts for 18% of our diesel, 5% of jet fuel and 1% of gas oil such as red diesel, which is used for machinery and vehicles outside road.

The government added in its statement that Russian natural gas currently accounts for 4% of UK imports and said: “Ministers are also considering options to further reduce this figure.”

Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer behind the United States and Saudi Arabia and usually exports around 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, more than 5% of the world total, but suppliers as well as nations are increasingly reluctant to deal with the country in light of the assault on Ukraine, for practical as well as moral reasons.

Traders fear that further instability developing after placing an order could prevent the delivery of their oil and are also worried about complications surrounding transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks after they were banned from the Swift payment system used to make the transactions. payments between lenders.

Russian crude oil is currently being offered at massive discounts on world markets, but few European buyers are biting.

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