UK stops importing Russian fuel for the first time since 1997

The UK (WB) in June 2022 did not import Russian fuel for the first time since January 1997, that is, since the start of such records, the WB National Bureau of Statistics reported on August 24.

On average, in the 12 months to February 2022, when Russia launched a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, the country imported 499 million pounds worth of Russian fuel ($588.8 million at the current exchange rate) every month. Now the volume of imports has dropped to zero.

Imports of Russian refined oil to the World Bank in June, according to the statistical office, fell by 281 million pounds, imports of crude oil – by 105 million pounds, gas – by 95 million, and coal, coke and briquettes – by 18 million.

The agency also noted that in 2021, Russia was the largest supplier of refined oil to the UK, accounting for 24.1% of such imports, as well as 5.9% of crude oil imports and 4.9% of gas.

After the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions, imports of other Russian goods also began to decline and in June, according to British statistics, amounted to only 33 million pounds in monetary terms. This is the lowest rate since 1997.

After the start of the NWO, the UK authorities announced plans to gradually stop importing Russian oil by the end of 2022, and then, as soon as possible, also stop buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia. As a result, importers began to look for alternatives and increased their imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Kuwait, which “partially offset the reduction in imports from Russia,” according to a release from the UK National Bureau of Statistics.

Also earlier, the United States refused to import Russian oil, and the European Union imposed an embargo on the supply of oil and petroleum products from Russia, which will come into force in December this year. As a result, the Russian Federation had to reorient fuel supplies to Asian markets – mainly to India and China (Vedomosti wrote about this on May 18 and June 2).

Bloomberg previously reported that China bought $35 billion worth of oil, oil products, gas and coal from Russia from March to July, compared with $20 billion in the same period in 2021. Oil imports increased by 8% during this time, thermal coal – by 14% , coking coal – by 63%

As a result, Russia has become the main supplier of fuel to China, displacing Indonesia. According to Indian media, from April to June, India increased its imports of Russian oil by 50 times, making Russia the second largest oil supplier to the country. The share of Russian fuel in India’s imports rose to 10%, before the start of the NWO it was 0.2%.

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