June 20 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria was the only EU member from Southeast Europe (SEE) and one of just five countries in the bloc, along with Czechia, Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania, that maintained emergency stocks of crude oil and oil products below the minimum national requirements as of March this year, the EU statistical office said.
By contrast, in July 2022, there were 10 EU member states with oil reserves below national minimum levels -- Bulgaria, Czechia, Ireland, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria and Romania, Eurostat said in a statement on Monday.
According to EU rules, member states must keep emergency oil stocks equal to 90 days of net imports or 61 days of consumption, whichever is greater. Every year, in July, the EU can revise the method for calculating members' obligations on oil stock reserves. From July 2022 until now, all states except Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands have been using the net import metric.
According to Eurostat data, as of March Bulgaria had emergency oil stocks equivalent to 81 days of net imports, compared to 78 days in July 2022. Finland had the highest oil stocks, at 202 days equivalent in March, while Latvia had the lowest, 55 days. Among the SEE states, Greece led with 133 days equivalent in March, followed by Slovenia, Romania and Croatia.
"In March 2023, the total imports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia into the EU decreased to 1.4 million tonnes (Mt) compared with the average monthly figure of 15.2 Mt in the three years from 2019 to 2022," Eurostat noted. Imports of crude oil alone declined to 1.17 Mt in March 2023 from 12.4 Mt in January 2022, a month before the war broke out.
Traditionally relying on Russia for much of its oil imports, the EU Commission adopted successive packages of sanctions against Russia and Russian companies in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Effective from December, the Commission implemented a ban on imports of Russian seaborne crude oil into the EU, with a subsequent ban on petroleum products imports entering into force in February.
Bulgaria benefits from a temporary derogation from the EU-wide ban on seaborne Russian oil imports, enabling it to carry on importing crude oil and petroleum products from Russia by sea until the end of 2024.
Bulgaria refines Russian Urals crude at the Neftochim oil refinery in Burgas, which is owned by Lukoil Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Lukoil European Holdings, itself the European arm of Russian petroleum giant Lukoil.
In March, Bulgaria joined EU member states in banning exports of oil products made from seaborne Russian crude oil, with the exception of petrochemicals and bunker fuel used in ships.
Last month, Bulgaria was the world's fifth largest destination for Russian crude oil exports after India, China, Turkey and South Korea, most recent data from S&P Global Commodity Insights show.