In the first ten months of 2020, Romania imported 5.563 million tons of crude oil equivalent, which is by 1.607 million tons of oil equivalent or 22.4 % less than in the same period last year, according to the data provided by Romanian National Institute for Statistics (INS). At the same time, crude oil production in Romania amounted to 2.712 million tons of oil equivalent, which is some 2.4 % or 66,700 tons of oil equivalent less compared to the same period in 2019. According to the draft of Romanian 2015-2035 Energy Strategy, the country’s oil reserves are categorized as limited, with just a few new discoveries in the past 30 years, although some recent finding in the Black Sea area look promising. Besides that, Romania remains the fourth oil producing country in the European Union (representing some 6 % of the EU oil production) and the fifth in the entire Europe. Romania imports oil mainly from Russia and Kazakhstan, as the largest Romanian refineries are owned by companies from Russia (Lukoil – Petrotel) and Kazakhstan (Rompetrol – Petromidia).
