European oil import bill jumps 55.8% to €27.6 billion a month in second quarter
Key Facts
The European Union spent an average of €27.6 billion a month on oil imports in the second quarter of 2026, up 55.8% from an average of €17.7 billion a month in 2025, according to a Euronews report based on Eurostat data. That lifted the monthly bill by €9.9 billion compared with last year’s average. The jump in value came alongside a relatively modest increase in import volumes, highlighting the role of higher costs for imported oil in driving up the bill. The cost per tonne rose from €487 in 2025 to €750 in the second quarter of 2026. The report said the EU paid “an extra €9.9 billion a month” during the period.
On a year-on-year quarterly basis, the value of oil imports reached €82.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026, compared with €50.3 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Import volumes over the same period rose to 110.2 million tonnes from 105.2 million tonnes, according to figures cited by the report from Eurostat. The value was therefore up 55.8% compared with the 2025 average, while volume growth was far lower. The comparison shows that the increase in spending did not stem from a similar expansion in the quantity of oil imported. The report noted that import volumes “rose only slightly” between the two periods.
The cost increase extended to total European energy imports, which reached €115.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026, compared with €81.4 billion a year earlier. Of the €34.2 billion increase, petroleum oils contributed €32.4 billion, equivalent to 95% of the rise, according to Eurostat data cited by the report. That put oil at the forefront of the components driving the energy import bill higher during the period. The figures also show that the increase was not evenly distributed across energy sources, with petroleum oils accounting for most of the growth in spending. The total energy bill reached €115.6 billion for the quarter, reflecting the broad impact of higher oil costs on European imports.
Media coverage linked the price increase to tensions and supply disruptions, although Eurostat’s data did not itself attribute the rise directly to any particular cause. According to the report’s account of comments by Xiaoyi Mu, a professor of economics at the University of Dundee, the average monthly Brent crude price in the second quarter of 2026 rose 49.5% from the 2025 average, an increase of $34 per barrel. Mu highlighted the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to global energy flows: about 20 million barrels a day of oil and petroleum products passed through it in 2025, equivalent to about 20% of daily global consumption. The report described tanker traffic through the strait as intermittent, rather than completely closed. These developments place shipping and supply costs in the context of the higher oil prices faced by markets during the period.
In a later assessment of the market, the International Energy Agency said North Sea Dated crude rose $26.17 per barrel in September to an average of $116.89 per barrel. Brent futures also climbed 13% since the start of the month to about $107 per barrel at the time the agency prepared its report in October. The agency forecast global oil demand would fall by an average of 2.6 million barrels a day in 2026. It said oil markets could remain in deficit through the end of the year, while tight supplies of middle distillates could persist into 2027. On 29 October, the European Central Bank left its three key interest rates unchanged: 2.50% for the deposit facility, 2.65% for main refinancing operations and 2.90% for the marginal lending facility. It said the energy shock posed upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth.