Oil imports down 10% in Jan-Sept

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s oil imports declined by roughly 10 percent in the first nine months of the year, driven by the drop in gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shipments.

Middle East remained the top source of crude oil imports, data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed.

The DOE said total fuel products sourced abroad hit 41.699 million barrels in the nine-month period, down 9.48 percent from 46.066 million barrels a year ago.

Diesel oil, which accounted for the bulk of the fuel imports, inched up to 18,429 from 18,370 last year.

However, all other items, save for other imports (asphalts, aviation gasoline and condensates) that jumped 30 percent to 1.068 million barrels, slipped in the nine-month period.

Specifically, DOE said gasoline imports fell 15 percent to 9.465 million barrels from 11.154 million while inbound shipments of LPG declined 24.44 percent to 6.338 million barrels from 8.389 million barrels last year.

Imports of kerosene and aviation gas turbo slightly fell to 4.944 million barrels from 5.047 million barrels. Fuel oil imports were nearly halved to 1.455 million barrels from 2.287 million barrels in the same period last year.

For crude oil imports, DOE said the country sourced less of its needs from the Middle East and other Asian countries.

Crude oil imports declined to 47.937 million barrels from 69.614 million barrels last year, DOE said.            

Specifically, imports from the Middle East fell by more than a quarter to 38.404 million barrels in the nine-month period from 52.955 million barrels last year.