UK slashes oil imports by a fifth in five years

Currency, commodity and trading research website DailyFX.com says the country reduced its intake from 359 million barrels to around 280 million in the period reviewed. 

The amount now used is considerably lower than leading European counterparts Germany (622 million barrels), the Netherlands (506 million), Italy (406 million) and France (397 million) – all of whom rank within the list of the world’s top 10 importers.

Speaking as the company unveiled its new tracking tool for analysts, John Kicklighter, chief currency strategist at Daily FX, said: “The world is changing and so is the way that it uses energy. Renewable and environmentally-friendly fuel options are the future, and while the end of crude oil is still far off, there will be considerable changes in the world’s top importers and exporters.”

While the UK’s performance is impressive, it still ranks 12^th among global importers with seven other European countries achieving higher reductions. However, these include a number of much smaller states such as Malta (93% reduction) and Moldova (92%). 

Meanwhile, China has overtaken the USA as the biggest oil importer in 2018 – with 3.38 billion barrels against the American total of 1.14 billion. The remaining billion-plus importers are India (1.65 billion) and Japan and South Korea (both 1.09 billion barrels).