Tankers: Seaborne Crude Oil Imports from the EU on the Rise

EU has remained a leading importer of seaborne crude oil during 2024. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “2023 has been another positive period for crude oil trade, despite the high oil prices and risks of economic recession. In Jan-Dec 2023, global crude oil loadings went up +4.7% y-o-y to 2186.8 mln tonnes, excluding all cabotage trade, according to vessels tracking data from Refinitiv. The positive trend continued in JanOct 2024, when global crude oil loadings increased by +0.8% y-o-y to 1833.9 mln t, from 1819.9 mln t in the same period of 2023. Exports from the Arabian Gulf were down by -0.4% y-o-y to 725.5 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024, and accounted for 39.6% of global seaborne trade. Exports from Russian ports (including Kazakh crude) also declined by -0.9% y-o-y to 192.8 mln tonnes, or 10.5% of global trade. From the USA, exports increased by +2.8% y-o-y to 167.6 mln t. From South America, exports surged by +15.1% y-o-y to 167.4 mln t. From ASEAN loadings surged by +8.6% y-o-y to 107.0 mln t”.

According to Banchero Costa, “in terms of demand, the top seaborne importer of crude oil in Jan-Oct 2024 was Mainland China, accounting for 23.1% of global trade. Volumes into China declined by -1.3% y-o-y to 424.8 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024, from 430.6 mln t in Jan-Oct 2023, but were still well above the 362.4 mln t in Jan-Oct 2022. To ASEAN, imports increased by +8.5% y-o-y to 222.7 mln t. To India, volumes increased +2.5% yo-y to 195.2 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024. The European Union is now again the world’s second largest seaborne importer of crude oil, after having briefly overtaken China in 2022. Seaborne imports into the European Union (27) increased by +4.7% y-o-y to 472.4 mln t in Jan-Dec 2023, with the EU accounting for 21.9% of global seaborne crude oil imports. This was well above the 402.5 mln tonnes imported by the EU in 2021 and the 388.8 mln t in 2022. It was also above the 446.0 mln t imported by the EU in 2019”.

The shipbroker added that “in Jan-Oct 2024, crude imports to the EU27 increased by +1.0% y-o-y to 396.8 mln t, accounting for 21.6% of global trade. About 15 percent of crude oil volumes discharged in the EU in JanOct 2024 were carried in VLCCs, about 39 percent were carried in Suezmaxes, and about 43 percent in Aframaxes. Top ports in the EU in Jan-Oct 2024 were Rotterdam (80.8 mln tonnes of crude oil in Jan-Oct 2024), Trieste (33.1 mln t), Gdansk (29.1 mln t), Wilhelmshaven (17.2 mln t), Fos (16.7 mln t), Le Havre (16.1 mln t), Cartagena (11.0 mln t), Sarroch (10.1 mln t), Algeciras (8.6 mln t), Augusta (8.8 mln t), Tarragona (8.5 mln t), Sines (8.8 mln t), Bilbao (8.1 mln t). In terms of sources of the shipments, there has been understandably a bit of politically driven reshuffling”.

Seaborne imports from Russian ports (which also includes oil of nonRussian origin such as Kazakh oil), rebounded by +1.7% y-o-y in Jan-Oct 2024 to 50.3 mln t, but are down by half from the 86.7 mln t in Jan-Oct 2022 and 92.0 mln t in Jan-Oct 2021. Novorossiysk is the single largest origin port for crude oil imports into the EU, accounting for 45.3 mln tonnes in Jan-Oct 2024. Russian ports have now fallen to the fourth largest source of seaborne oil to the EU, accounting for 12.7% of volumes in Jan-Oct 2024, behind the North Sea with 18.5%, North Africa (including Sidi Kerir) with 18.2%, and the USA with 15.8%. Imports from North Africa (including from Sidi Kerir) were up by +5.1% yo-y to 72.3 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024. Shipments from the North Sea (Norway and UK) were down -0.9% y-o-y to 73.5 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024. Imports from the USA surged by +5.1% y-o-y to a new all-time record of 62.7 mln t in Jan-Oct 2024. Shipments from West Africa to Europe were down by -3.2% y-o-y to 41.7 mln tonnes in Jan-Oct 2024. Direct shipments from the Arabian Gulf corrected sharply down by -21.9% y-o-y to 29.8 mln tonnes. Volumes from Turkey (Ceyhan) were down by -14.1% y-o-y to 16.8 mln t, from 19.6 mln t of Jan-Oct 2023”, Banchero Costa concluded.

Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide