European Crude Still Heavily Dependent on Russian Controlled CPC Blends

European crude imports by source – source: Vortexa

• By 5 December, all seaborne imports of Russian crude in EU countries, except for Bulgaria, have to cease completely.
• As of July and August 2022, Europe imports about 1.1mbd of seaborne Russian crude oil, mostly the flagship grade Urals, but also some Arctic and other grades – (this figure excludes CPC blend exports from Novorossiysk)
• The remaining big takers of Russian crude are the Netherlands and Italy, while Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.
• Europe’s dependency on Russian seaborne crude is surprisingly low at 8% currently - if accounting for Russian-port-loading crude, specifically CPC Blend, Europe’s dependency on Russia stands at 1.9mbd or 18%.
• Russia has a track record of interfering with loadings at the CPC terminal which is currently running at reduced capacity due to apparent mooring damage.
• Including Druzhba pipeline flows - 24% of European crude imports depend on Russia’s goodwill to supply Europe with crude.