Ukraine war had little impact on Dutch oil use

The war in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions against Russia have so far had little effect on Dutch oil consumption, Statistics Netherlands established based on figures from last year.

According to the statistics office, the refinery sector in the Netherlands processed almost the same amount of oil in 2022 as in 2021. The consumption of petrol, diesel, and LPG in traffic only fell by 1 percent. One of the reasons for that is that several sanctions imposed on the import of Russian oil products did not take effect until December last year or February this year.

Another factor is that refineries simply replaced Russian oil with oil purchased from other countries. CBS noticed a clear shift in the course of the year. At the end of last year, more oil came in from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan to compensate for the loss of Russian imports.

Furthermore, government agency COVA purchased and stored a large quantity of diesel last year to prevent possible fuel shortages in transport, agriculture, and other sectors essential to society. The Netherlands’ strategic diesel stocks have doubled, and a large part of all that extra diesel was obtained from Russia. Other strategic stocks have also increased in size, according to Statistics Netherlands.

The petrochemical industry used up to 15 percent less oil. That includes processes like converting oil into plastic. That is the lowest consumption since 2015. According to CBS, that had a clearly identifiable cause. The factories in this sector put their production on the back burner in the course of last year because of the high natural gas prices and planned maintenance. As a result, some petrochemical processes were temporarily halted