Bloomberg: European Parliament to consider a ban on Russian oil as early as 2026

The European Parliament is considering an accelerated phase-out of Russian oil and gas imports, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

on October 16, the Industry Committee will vote on amendments to the RePowerEU regulation, which provide for the cessation of imports of Russian oil and oil products from the beginning of 2026 (currently, the regulation does not specify clear deadlines) and a complete ban on gas supplies from Russia from the beginning of 2027 (currently, it provides for permission for pipeline imports until the end of 2027).

This step synchronizes the cessation of gas imports through pipelines with the already planned cessation of maritime supplies as part of the 19th package of EU sanctions. But while the sanctions are temporary by nature, the RePowerEU initiative is aimed at completely reducing dependence on Russia.

In the second half of 2026, the global gas market is expected to experience a surplus, which reduces the risk of shortages and price increases.

RePowerEU is currently being discussed in two parallel tracks: in the Parliament and among the member states. When each of them approves a negotiating position, negotiations with the European Commission will begin to finalize the form of the regulation .

• Although the EU has already significantly reduced purchases since 2022, the bloc still receives about 15% of its liquefied natural gas from Russia. Monthly payments amount to 500-700 million euros.
• Hungary and Slovakia continue to import not only gas but also Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline in the amount of about 220,000 barrels per day.