FRANKFURT, Nov 14 - Russia reduced exports of crude oil to Germany in the year to September by 17.8%, still reflecting a halt in the Druzhba pipeline between April and June due to contamination, official data showed.
Russia accounted for 30.7% of Germany’s oil receipts in January-September, but at 19.6 million tonnes delivered less than the 23.9 million recorded in the same 2018 period, according to statistics from the BAFA foreign trade office.
A drop in shipments by a quarter in January-June had shown how much the contamination affected Russia’s role as top crude supplier, but the shortfalls have been easing since July.
Germany spent 24.4 billion euros ($26.9 billion) on crude imports in the nine-month period, 8.1% less than a year earlier, BAFA said.
The import volume was 2.6% lower than a year earlier at 63.9 million tonnes, with Norway and Britain together accounting for 23.9% of supply.
OPEC member Libya and Kazakhstan were in fourth and fifth position, while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries overall contributed 23.8%.
Average prices paid on the border over the nine months fell by 5.6% to 428.67 euros per tonne.
In the Druzhba case, problems remain with the cleaning of pipelines and storage systems after the discovery of excessive levels of organic chlorides that can damage refineries.
