Europe Paid $113.5 Billion More for Energy and Got Nothing Extra

European Union nations have spent more than an extra 100 billion euros ($113.5 billion) on energy imports since the outbreak of the Iran war — without receiving a single additional unit of fuel.

EU energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen delivered the figure to energy ministers from across the 27-nation bloc gathered in Dublin. Despite the added spending, the members haven't received "one extra molecule of gas or oil."

"Times are serious," Jørgensen said.

The bill reflects the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passed in peacetime. Consumers in some European countries now pay nearly 50% more at the pump — more than $11 a gallon.

A diesel problem with an American dimension

The exposure is sharpest in diesel. "Europe is one of the most exposed regions — if not the most exposed one — when it comes to diesel because Europe imports a huge amount of diesel and we are entering the harsh season, the winter season," said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. About 50% of the EU's diesel supply comes directly from the U.S.

That dependency became acute after the bloc ended its historic reliance on Russia following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Europe has since become highly dependent on the U.S. for direct energy imports.

Now that lifeline faces political risk at home. Republicans in key U.S. states have called for a ban on diesel exports to bolster domestic supply ahead of crucial midterm elections. The push casts doubt on President Donald Trump's 2025 deal to sell $750 billion worth of energy to the EU.

Ireland's minister for climate, energy and the environment, Darragh O'Brien, said the ban is "unlikely" because it would harm economies on both sides of the Atlantic. But he warned the EU must prepare for the worst.

"We have to be guarded. We can't be complacent," O'Brien said.

Jørgensen said he had sent "a very clear signal" to U.S. authorities to scrap the proposed ban. At the same time, he pressed EU ministers to reduce the bloc's reliance on outside energy whose supply can be shaken by war and politics.

"This, of course, shows us just how bad it is for us to be dependent, just how unsustainable it is for us to be dependent on energy sources from other places in the world," Jørgensen said. "We need to get out of that dependency. We need to replace the fossil fuels, the imported, polluting, expensive molecules with homegrown energy: green electrons."

Jørgensen said ministers would discuss plans to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to electricity and expand electrical infrastructure across the bloc.

Finland as proof of concept

Sari Multala, the Finnish environment minister, pointed to her country as a model of energy independence. Nuclear reactors, turbines, peat bogs and hydropower dams provide 95% of Finland's electricity, she said, an arrangement that "creates very reasonable prices for electricity."

Multala acknowledged the political heat from the price spike. Rising concern about energy costs as winter approaches "creates a lot of pressure for us politicians to try to help our citizens to cope with the situation," she said.

With winter approaching and half of Europe's diesel flowing from a U.S. market where export restrictions remain on the table, the Dublin talks mark the start of a policy race to convert a $113.5 billion warning shot into structural change before the next supply shock arrives.