LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the European Union, the second quarter of 2026 witnessed a notable rise in the monetary value of petroleum oil imports, which increased by 55.8%, despite only a minor change in the volume of goods. According to Eurostat, the import volume reached 36.7 million tonnes, representing a 1.2% increase compared to the monthly average in 2025. These figures indicate a sharp escalation in import value without a corresponding rise in the physical quantity of oil brought into the EU. The data specifically pertains to crude petroleum oils entering from countries outside the bloc.
LNG import patterns during the same period differed. EU LNG import value went up by 4.1%, while the import volume decreased by 5.6% from the average monthly figures of 2025. Conversely, natural gas in gaseous form saw growth in both dimensions: its value surged 18.5%, and volume increased by 3.4%. This highlights the varied movement across the three primary energy import categories in terms of both value and physical quantity during the quarter.
In the second quarter, the United States emerged as the leading supplier of petroleum oil to the EU, accounting for 18.8%. Norway followed with 14.3%, and Kazakhstan supplied 13.4%. These three nations collectively contributed 46.5% of the bloc’s petroleum oil imports for the period. Different rankings appeared across natural gas categories, with the United States leading in LNG shipments and Norway holding the dominant share of gaseous natural gas imports.
United States Dominates EU LNG Imports
During the second quarter of 2026, the United States supplied 63.2% of the EU’s liquefied natural gas imports. Russia supplied 17.3%, while Algeria accounted for 8.1%. The combined share of these three suppliers made up 88.6% of LNG imports for the period. This concentration level exceeds that of petroleum oil, where the three largest suppliers held less than half of the market share. These figures represent each supplier’s proportion of the EU’s imports for each energy type.
Regarding gaseous natural gas, Norway supplied 51.2% of the EU’s imports during the quarter. Algeria was second with 18.2%, followed by the United Kingdom at 11.1%. Russia’s share was 10.2%, placing it behind the United Kingdom for this category. The quarterly data, compiled by Eurostat from Comext trade figures and estimates, cover crude petroleum oils, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas transported in gaseous form.
Oil Import Values Rebound After 2025 Decline
This resurgence in oil import values in Q2 follows a year marked by declines in both value and volume for EU petroleum oil imports. In 2025, the value dropped by 17.8% from 2024, while the volume decreased by 6.1%. Overall, the EU imported €336.7 billion worth of energy in 2025, totaling 723.3 million tonnes. That year, the total energy import value declined by 11.1%, with volume falling slightly by 0.6%. These annual figures encompass energy imports from outside the EU.
Long-term comparisons show that EU energy imports in 2025 remained below the levels seen in 2022. In that year, imports were valued at €693.4 billion, with a volume of 849.6 million tonnes. By 2025, both value and volume had fallen by 51.4% and 14.9%, respectively, from those figures. The second quarter of 2026 indicates a significant rise in the value of oil imports compared to the 2025 monthly average, even as physical volumes stayed close to that baseline.