Ban the purchase of imported oil from Russia. It’s what the Biden administration finally did after being pressured by Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Sounds easy, right? Easy—if you’re the U.S. where purchases really total a small amount compared to European countries.
Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of oil to global markets and according to the International Energy Agency, is the second-largest exporter of crude oil behind Saudi Arabia. The country exports an estimated 2.85 million barrels a day by both sea and pipelines.
Who buys it? Most is purchased by Europe and China. Their purchases account for 90% of Russia’s total exports.
While European members of NATO have sworn to stand up to Russia, they’re doing so at a risk of losing the oil they need. In 2021, Europe’s purchases of Russia oil totaled 42%, about 7 times what the U.S. did as of November 2021.
Other major countries to purchase Russian oil include Germany, the Netherlands, the U.S., Poland and South Korea.
According to a report by The Hill, here is a list of how much oil those European countries buy from Russia.
Lithuania gets 83% of its oil imports from Russia, Finland 80%, Slovakia 74%, Poland 58%, Hungary 43% and Estonia 34%.
Germany obtains 30%, Norway 25%, Belgium 23%, Turkey 21%, Denmark 15% and Spain 11%.