Brazil continues to gain prominence among crude oil suppliers to Spain, after its sales tripled in May alone, making it the second-largest supplier this year, behind the United States.
Specifically, according to data released by the Corporation of Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (Cores), in May alone, Spain purchased 885,000 tons of crude oil from Brazil, more than tripling the amount bought a year earlier (233%).
Thus, the crude bought from Brazil in May accounted for 14.9% of the total 5.9 million tons of crude oil imported by Spain that month. This amount is 23.5% higher than a year earlier, bringing the year-to-date crude purchases up by 12% year-on-year and by 3.3% in the last 12 months.
In the first five months of the year, Brazil provided 14.3% of the crude oil bought abroad by Spain, closing in on the United States, which was the top supplier during that period with 17.3% of the total. Following them were Mexico (12.2%) and Nigeria (12.1%), with Saudi Arabia trailing further behind (5.8%).
In addition to Brazil, Spain purchased crude oil from 14 other countries in May, with the United States leading (19.9% of the total). After them, Venezuela was the main supplier (10.7% of the total).
Crude oil imports from OPEC member countries increased by 1.8% year-on-year in May, accounting for 39.7% of the total.
Year-on-year declines were recorded in crude oil entries from all OPEC member countries except Algeria (+86.1%), Iraq (+49.9%), and Venezuela (with no imports in May 2023).
