Fuel Origin

Flows

How oil reaches each country

Where the EU’s crude oil and fuel come from, as each member state reports its imports; every band’s width is proportional to tonnes.

In January 2024, Ireland's petrol supply was 66 kt: 58% from its own refineries, with imports mainly from the United Kingdom (39%); tracing one step back, the crude behind it is estimated to come mainly from the United States (59%), and 39% cannot be traced.

The numbers as a table
Reported: where Ireland's petrol came from
FromToTonnesShareHow we know
Ireland (own refineries)Ireland: petrol supply38,38558.0%ReportedEurostat nrg_cb_oilm (refinery output)
United KingdomIreland: petrol supply25,74238.9%ReportedEurostat nrg_ti_oilm (imports by partner country, energy basis)
NetherlandsIreland: petrol supply2,0383.1%ReportedEurostat nrg_ti_oilm (imports by partner country, energy basis)
Estimate: the crude oil behind each supplier's fuel
FromToTonnesShareHow we know
United StatesIreland (own refineries)38,385100.0%EstimatedEstimate: Ireland's petrol to Ireland split by Ireland's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
United Kingdom: no crude dataUnited Kingdom25,742100.0%UnknownWe hold no crude import statistics for the supplying country, and we do not assume what its refineries run on.
United StatesNetherlands57828.4%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
NigeriaNetherlands24812.2%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
NorwayNetherlands24812.1%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
Other crude originsNetherlands2009.8%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
United KingdomNetherlands1939.5%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
BrazilNetherlands1698.3%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
IraqNetherlands1416.9%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
Smaller flows: crude origin not reportedNetherlands1226.0%UnknownThe supplying country's statistics did not say where part of its crude came from.
KazakhstanNetherlands814.0%EstimatedEstimate: Netherlands's petrol to Ireland split by Netherlands's crude-import mix over 2023-11 to 2024-01. Confidence: medium.
Smaller flows: crude not from importsNetherlands572.8%UnknownThe refineries used more crude than the country imported (its own production or stocks). That part is not traced rather than being filled with the import mix.
Source & method
Source
EurostatInferred · medium
Period 2024-01 (month)Updated 2026-09-26 13:30 UTCConfidenceMediumMethodologyDownload CSV

Left: the crude oil behind the fuel (an estimate). Middle: the country’s own refineries and the countries the fuel was last shipped from, which may be a trading hub rather than where it was refined; the estimate treats each as the refiner. Right: Ireland’s supply of petrol in 2024-01, in tonnes of fuel. Only the middle-to-right flows are reported figures.

Month: 2024-01 (requested). Crude mixes are pooled over 2023-11 to 2024-01.

Fuel that cannot be traced, and the reason

  • United Kingdom: no crude data (25,742 t): We hold no crude import statistics for the supplying country, and we do not assume what its refineries run on.
  • Smaller flows: crude origin not reported (122 t): The supplying country's statistics did not say where part of its crude came from.
  • Smaller flows: crude not from imports (57 t): The refineries used more crude than the country imported (its own production or stocks). That part is not traced rather than being filled with the import mix.
  • Only the supplier -> country links are reported figures. The crude -> supplier links are an estimate: each supplier's fuel is split by that supplier's own crude-import mix over the latest three months.
  • Exports are assumed to be drawn from every source in proportion to its share of supply.
  • The chain looks back one country only. Imports are counted under the country the fuel was last shipped from; where that country has refineries, fuel that only passed through it is traced as if it had been refined there.
  • Widths are tonnes of this fuel, not tonnes of crude oil: a refinery makes several products from each tonne of crude.

Ireland: country page