Things in the sector of oil import have changed lately. According to CYSTAT data released recently, the countries that export oil to Cyprus have changed after the closing of the Larnaca Refinery and the import of finished products instead of crude oil.

It is worth noting that the value of oil products from Syria and Russia recorded a drop of 99% and 73% respectively.

Hellenic Petroleum Managing Director, Olga Tsaloglou said that this drop is mostly attributable to the increased import of finished products instead of crude oil, which was imported by Russia and Syria mostly.

EKO imports oil products from Greece mostly. The value of oil imports from Greece has tripled.

“In January-May 2004 we imported crude oil from Syria and Russia. After the closing of the Refinery in May 2005, we import finished products from Haifa, Romania and Russia”, Petrolina Executive Director, Dntinos Lefkaritis stated.

The value of oil imports from Israel, Greece and Italy has increased sharply.

The value of oil imports in January-May recorded an increase of 58% to £160 million against £101 million in the corresponding period of 2004.

This increase is not attributable to the increased consumption but the increase in the price of fuel and the increased stock. According to the Statistics Service, the sale of oil products dropped from 653 thousand tons to 652 thousand in January-May. Similarly, sales in gas stations dropped from 295 thousand to 293 thousand.