Turkey’s total oil imports surged by 22.3% to 4.21 million tons year-over-year in October, according to data by the country’s energy watchdog Thursday.

Crude oil imports, the category with the highest oil import volume, increased by 24.2% in October to 2.89 million tons, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) said in its monthly oil market report.

Oil imports and consumption in the country showed growth this October due to a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same month of 2020.

In October, Turkey imported the highest volume of oil and oil products from Iraq, totaling 1.38 million tons. Russia and Nigeria followed with 1.12 million tons and 296,525 tons, respectively.

Oil refinery product exports increased by 11.7% to 1.01 million tons, and oil refinery product output also rose by 12.1% to 3.27 million tons in October.

Total domestic oil product sales in October increased 2.9% compared to the same month of 2020 to 2.84 million tons.