Europe becomes largest US oil consumer

Europe become the top importer of U.S. oil amid EU restrictions on Russian crude, Bloomberg reported on Friday, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

According to the report, Europe imported around 213.1 million barrels of crude oil from January to May this year. This allowed the region to overtake Asia as the top US oil importer for the same five-month period for the first time since 2016. Data shows that Asia received only 191.1 million barrels from the US at the time.

The diversion of the oil flow comes amid heavy sanctions against Russian oil imposed by the US, EU and other nations in response to the offensive in Ukraine. In a bid to slash Russian oil profits and subsequently deprive Moscow of the ability to fund its military operation in Ukraine, the EU recently imposed a partial embargo on Russian oil and cut imports.

The US, meanwhile, has proposed a price cap and its officials are currently trying to garner support for the initiative, particularly in China and India. The two countries recently stepped up their Russian oil purchases to take advantage of the big rebates Moscow is offering to divert exports.