{
  "id": 17010041,
  "title": "Europe’s oil bill: EU pays €10bn more per month than in 2025",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/europes-oil-bill-eu-pays-10bn-more-per-month-than-in-2025-17010041",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T04:30:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/29/europes-oil-bill-eu-pays-10bn-more-per-month-than-in-2025"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the second quarter of 2026, the European Union (EU) spent €27.6 billion on petroleum oil imports per month, marking a 55.8% increase compared to €17.7 billion in the same period in 2025. However, the volume of oil imported only rose by 1.2%, from 36.3 million tonnes a month in 2025 to 36.7 million tonnes, resulting in the EU paying an additional €9.9 billion a month. The cost per tonne of imported petroleum oil surged to €750, the second-highest level since 2021, up from €435 at the end of 2025. The EU's heavy reliance on oil imports, at 90-95% in 2024, has made it particularly vulnerable to the rising costs. The primary driver of the price hike is the increase in crude oil prices, with the Brent crude price in the second quarter of 2026 being 49.5% higher than in 2025. The war between the US, Israel, and Iran has disrupted oil production and supplies, pushing prices higher. Although tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has returned to pre-war levels in some weeks, it falls again, causing ongoing disruptions. European drivers have also felt the impact at the pump, with diesel prices increasing from an average of €1.54 a litre in January 2026 to €2.14 a litre by October, which is 38% higher than the start of the year.",
  "summary": "Euronews Business takes a closer look at how Europe’s petroleum oil import bill has risen amid tensions in the Middle East - and experts do not expect costs to fall in the near future.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}