Only five IEA countries were net exporters of liquid fuels last year – the United States, Canada, Mexico, Norway, and Estonia. In 2024, Estonia continued to be the only EU Member State where fuel exports exceeded imports.
Both the consumption of petroleum products and the production volumes of shale oil in Estonia have remained relatively stable in recent years. Estonia was a net exporter of liquid fuels for the second year in a row. In the past, the fuel export-import balance of the country has fluctuated close to zero, but leaned towards higher imports.
The fact of being a net exporter has little impact on the security of supply of the Estonian market. The petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel used as motor fuels in Estonia are 100% imported and made either from oil or, increasingly, from environmentally friendly renewable raw materials, rather than from oil shale.
Shale oil is predominantly exported, mainly for use as an additive to heating oil and ship fuel, as a raw material for the chemical industry or as heating fuel. In Estonia, shale oil has been used in boiler plants and smaller combined heat and power plants. Shale oil can therefore be a valuable alternative fuel for local energy production in times of crisis or shortages of imported fuels.
The IEA was formed during the global fuel crisis of the 1970s to counter the oil-exporting countries. The Republic of Latvia was the 32nd to join the organisation last December. Estonia has been a member of the IEA since 2013.
The main source of strength for the International Energy Agency is the strategic fuel reserves of the Member States, which totalled 3,983 million barrels at the end of 2024, up by 13 million barrels, or 0.3%, year-on-year. Just over half of the fuel reserves of the IEA countries are stored in crude oil, with the remainder in final products.
A country that is a net exporter of liquid fuels is subject to a certain additional obligation in calculating the volume of strategic fuel stocks, but the Estonian Stockpiling Agency has already taken this into account in the past and our 90-day strategic stock is fully compliant.
The establishment of the Estonian liquid fuel stockpile was started in 2005, when the Estonian Oil Stockpiling Agency, a state-owned public limited company, was created. In 2021, the agency was reorganised as the Estonian Stockpiling Agency, and in addition to liquid fuels, the management of other strategic stockpiles and the development of various security of supply and business continuity measures was added to the portfolio of the company.
