The Bureau of Customs (BOC) increased its revenue collection from petroleum products in November 2020 by 54.1% to P12.8 billion compared to Php8.33 billion in the same period last year due to the surge in imports of diesel and gasoline.
Based on the BOC’s report to Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez III, the revenue hike was driven mainly by the corresponding spike in excise tax collections from petroleum products.
Excise taxes collected by the BOC from fuel imports from November 1-30, 2020 amounted to Php8.97 billion, 88.7% higher than the Php4.76 billion collection posted year-on-year.
Fuel imports also went up in November 2020 by 32.1% to 1.1 billion kilograms (kg), compared to 829.4 million kg brought into the country in the same period in 2019.
Crude oil importation, meanwhile, was only 381.8 million kg during the same period, a 51.8% drop compared to the 792.7 million kg that was imported last year.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation shut down its refinery in Batangas last August and announced it will convert the site into an import terminal. Petron Corporation, meanwhile, will be imposing an “economic shutdown” of its facility in Bataan later this month.
Oil refineries in Asia, North America and Europe have also permanently shut down their facilities following the decline in global fuel demand by 30% amid the global economic slump resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.