France could cope with ban on Russian oil imports, Ufip says

France would be able to source alternative crude supplies if the European Union imposes an embargo on Russian oil imports following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the head of a French petroleum industry lobby group. 

“We’re looking at scenarios of alternative supplies, including with public authorities,” Ufip Energies Et Mobilites president Olivier Gantois said Wednesday. “We think we have ways to find alternative supplies, so we’re not in a situation of a shortage in oil products. There’s no risk of a shortage in the short term.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. and U.K. both announced plans to ban imports of Russian fossil fuels, including oil, in a major escalation of Western efforts to damage Russia’s economy in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The European Commission also outlined a strategy to cut its natural gas needs from Russia by two-thirds this year, but stopped short of an outright embargo on crude. 

France imported 58,000 barrels a day of crude from Russia in 2020, according to Eurostat data, about 9% of the total. That was down from shipments of 124,000 barrels a day in 2019, or a 13% share. Replacing diesel fuel would be a bigger problem for France, which sourced almost 100,000 barrels a day from Russia in 2020, about one-quarter of its total imports of the fuel.

If the EU were to impose a ban, barrels from Russia unable to find buyers in Europe would likely be exported in China, India and other Asian nations, freeing up some Middle East crude for Europe, Gantois added. The U.S. may also be able to pump more tight oil to make up for its on embargo on Russian imports.