Oil import bill drops to $7.2 B in 2015

MANILA, Philippines - The steep drop in crude prices dragged the country’s oil import bill over 40 percent in 2015, the Department of Energy (DOE) said in a report.

The net import bill, or the difference between oil imports and exports, amounted to $7.19 billion last year, down 42.1 percent from $12.43 billion in 2014, DOE data showed.

The DOE attributed the lower value of imported oil to cheaper price per barrel of crude and petroleum products, which fell around 45 percent from 2014.

The data showed total product import cost for the period averaged $60.06 per barrel versus the average cost of $106.89 per barrel the previous year.

It also showed the value of oil imports totaled $4.61 billion, or 38.1 percent lower from $7.45 billion last year.

Of the total import cost, 57.1 percent consist of finished products and 42.9 percent crude oil.

In terms of volume, petroleum product imports reached 76.78 million barrels as of end-2015, an increase of 10.2 percent from 69.66 million barrels a year earlier.

Crude oil imports, meanwhile rose a mere 0.3 percent from 64.938 million barrels to 65.144 million barrels.

Bulk of the imported crude, or 84 percent of the total, is sourced from the Middle East.

Specifically, the country’s major supplier of crude oil is Saudi Arabia, cornering 42.4 percent of the total equivalent to 27.608 million barrels.

Other Middle Eastern countries include Kuwait with 20.6 percent, United Arab Emirates with 10.9 percent and Qatar with 10.6 percent.

The Philippines also imported 5.424 million barrels of crude oil from the ASEAN region, equivalent to 8.3 percent of the total crude mix.

The remaining 7.3 percent came from Russia, importing 4.769 million barrels, and from local production, the DOE data showed.