The price of diesel fuel in Europe will increase significantly because of the EU embargo on imports of petroleum products from Russia, which will come into force on February 5. the Spanish newspaper Vanguardia wrote on Monday. They have a negative effect on the EU.

According to its information, at the beginning of 2022, Europe was buying from Russia almost half of all imported diesel fuel, equivalent to 10% of its needs. So while the ban is not in force, Europe is actively replenishing its supplies by increasing imports of this fuel, including from Russia. In this regard, last December diesel imports to Europe rose to a record 8.2 million tons.

It is noted that this problem will significantly affect the economy of European countries. For example, 42% of cars, 91% of vans and 96% of all trucks in Europe run on diesel fuel.

Effects of embargo

According to experts, the effects of the embargo will be as follows: to replace Russian supplies, about 600,000 barrels of this oil product per day will be needed. For this reason, Europe has started to actively import diesel fuel from Asia and the Middle East. Before the conflict in Ukraine, their shares in European imports were 0% and 10%, respectively. Now this figure has been increased to 15% and 25%.

According to the newspaper, the main candidates for replacing Russian crude oil products are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. However, supplies from these countries imply an increase in transportation costs, which in turn will affect final fuel prices.

From December 5, oil sanctions of the Western countries came into force: the European Union stopped accepting Russian oil transported by sea, and the “Big Seven” countries, Australia and the EU imposed a cap on prices for its transportation by sea at $60 per barrel – more expensive oil is prohibited to transport and insure. It is expected that on February 5 similar measures will be introduced for oil products.

Russia, in response, banned from February 1 from providing oil to foreign parties, if the contracts directly or indirectly involve using a price fixing mechanism. Moreover, the ban applies at all stages of supply up to the final buyer. As for oil products, the Russian government will determine the date.

Earlier we reported that the USA supports keeping the ceiling price for Russian oil at the level of $60.