LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the second quarter of 2026, European Union saw a 55.8% jump in the monetary worth of petroleum oil imports, despite little change in the volume. Eurostat reported that the import volume reached 36.7 million tonnes, reflecting a 1.2% increase from the monthly average in 2025. These figures indicate a significant rise in import value without a corresponding increase in physical oil shipments, with data covering crude petroleum entering the EU from outside nations.
During the same period, liquefied natural gas (LNG) followed a different trend. EU LNG import value increased by 4.1%, while the import volume decreased by 5.6% compared to the 2025 monthly average. Conversely, natural gas in gaseous form experienced growth in both value and volume—value increased by 18.5%, and volume rose by 3.4%. These outcomes reveal that the three major energy import categories moved at different paces in terms of worth and physical quantities during the quarter.
The United States supplied 18.8% of EU petroleum oil imports during the second quarter, making it the leading source. Norway contributed 14.3%, with Kazakhstan providing 13.4%. Collectively, these three nations represented 46.5% of the bloc’s petroleum oil imports in that period. When considering natural gas categories, the supplier rankings shifted, with the United States leading LNG shipments and Norway holding the largest share of gaseous natural gas imports.
United States dominates EU LNG imports
In the second quarter of 2026, the United States accounted for 63.2% of EU liquefied natural gas imports. Russia supplied 17.3%, while Algeria represented 8.1%. These three suppliers together made up 88.6% of LNG imports during that period. This concentration exceeded that of petroleum oil, where the top three suppliers held less than half of the total. The figures reflect each country’s share of EU imports for the respective energy types.
During the same quarter, Norway supplied 51.2% of the EU’s gaseous natural gas imports. Algeria ranked second with 18.2%, followed by the United Kingdom at 11.1%. Russia accounted for 10.2%, placing it behind the United Kingdom in this category. Eurostat based these quarterly statistics on Comext trade data and estimates, covering crude petroleum oils, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas in gaseous form.
Oil import value rebounds after decline in 2025
The rise in the second quarter follows a year when EU petroleum oil imports decreased both in value and volume. In 2025, the import value dropped by 17.8% from 2024, with volume declining by 6.1%. Across all energy products, the EU imported energy worth €336.7 billion, totaling 723.3 million tonnes in 2025. During that year, total energy import value fell by 11.1%, and overall volume decreased by 0.6%. These annual figures encompass energy imports from outside the EU.
Comparing longer periods shows that EU energy imports in 2025 were still below the totals recorded in 2022, when imports were valued at €693.4 billion and volume reached 849.6 million tonnes. By 2025, the value had fallen by 51.4%, and volume had decreased by 14.9% from those levels. The oil figures for the second quarter of 2026 thus indicate a notable rise in import value compared to the monthly benchmark of 2025, with physical volumes remaining close to that reference point.