BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 30. The EU's oil and oil products import dependency in 2021 decreased to 91.67 percent, after a record high of 96.78 percent in 2020, Trend reports, citing Eurostat.
"This value is the second lowest since 1990, after the historical minimum of 91.66 percent in 1999," the report noted.
According to the data, the EU's oil import dependence recorded in 2021 was the cumulative result of changes in net imports (-0.3 percent), with both imports and exports increasing by 3.4 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, and gross energy access - by 5.3 percent.
Primary production also changed (down by 5.7 percent), but this has much less impact on the indicator because of its relatively low level, Eurostat noted.
"The drop in dependency was also supported by the use of 20.4 Mtoe of oil stocks which was the largest yearly draw ever recorded and equivalent to 4.1 percent of the gross available energy," the report added.
Crude oil imports, specifically, were down to 95.2 percent in 2021, below the levels registered since 2015.
"The reduction recorded in 2021 resulted from an increase in net imports (up by 1.6 percent) and gross available energy (up by 2.5 percent). Other variables, such as primary production and exports, also changed (down by 6.1 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively), but they have a smaller influence given their comparatively low levels. The drop in dependency was also slightly influenced by crude oil stocks' use of 4.9 Mtoe, an unusually high draw, which however was equivalent to only 1.1 percent of the gross available energy," the report said.