Turkey's total oil imports decreased by 22.3% to 2.82 million tonnes in December last year compared to the same month of 2019, according to data of Turkey's energy watchdog on Thursday.
Crude oil imports, the category with the highest oil import volume, reduced by 29.7% during that period to 2.04 million tonnes, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) said in its monthly oil market report.
In December 2020, Turkey imported the highest amount of crude from Iraq at 490,904 tonnes. Russia and Nigeria followed with 460,912 tonnes and 412,506 tonnes, respectively.
The falling demand for oil products as a result of restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic reduced the country's overall oil import volumes.
Oil refinery product output decreased by 0.7% to 2.83 million tonnes in December 2020. While diesel production was up by 13.8% to 1.42 million tonnes, gasoline production decreased by nearly 19.3% to 366,092 tonnes.
Total domestic oil product sales in December decreased by 5.6% to 2.29 million tonnes compared to the same month of 2019.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr