Norwegian oil replaced russian oil on the EU market

Oil from Norway captured the European market, replacing russian energy carriers.

Norwegian oil Johan Sverdrup displaced russian fuel at European refineries. Previously, Norway sold the energy carrier to Asian countries, but the embargo on Rosneft opened the European market for the Scandinavian country. Poland, Germany and Finland export the most oil from Norway, according to a Reuters report.

The Johan Sverdrup variety was released in 2019. Norwegian oil is very close in chemical composition to the russian Urals. At the same time, the energy carrier from Norway has a lower sulfur content than fuel from russian federation. Thus, Johan Sverdrup has become one of the most desirable energy carriers in northwestern Europe.

Johan Sverdrup crude exports to Poland through the port of Gdansk jumped to a record 8 million barrels in March, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon. Lithuanian refiner PKN Orlen Mazeikiu is also ramping up Johan Sverdrup purchases, taking at least 1.2 million barrels in April. Also, the Norwegian grade accounts for more than half of Finland’s monthly oil imports.

However, some Rosneft still finds its way into Europe. Thus, Bulgaria received permission from the EU to continue importing Urals crude oil, while Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic continue to import through the Druzhba pipeline.

USM recently wrote that Poland  is calling for new sanctions against russian federation. In particular, it is proposed to block the operation of the russian pipeline “Druzhba”.