The country’s oil import bill dropped in 2016 as global prices continue to go down even after the Philippines imported more petroleum products.

Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that the Philippines’ net import bill in 2016 amounted to $6.78 billion, 12.4 percent lower from 2015’s $7.73 billion.

The Net import bill is the difference between oil imports and exports

The country imported a total of 164,880 million barrels in 2016 versus previous year’s 154,336 million barrels.

Total product import cost last year averaged $42.16 per barrel. Lower than 2015’s average cost of $51.8 per barrel.

However, the total oil import in 2016 only amounted to $7.45 billion; a 13 percent decrease from the previous year’s $8.61 billion.

Imports in included 52.22 percent finished products and 47.78 crude oil.

87 percent of the imported crude oil came from the Middle East; 36.1 percent from Saudi Arabia, 33.6 percent from Kuwait; and 13.3 percent from UAE.

The country also sourced 6.7 percent from Russia and 6.3 percent from the ASEAN region.

Meanwhile, the Philippines exported a total 15,576 million barrels of oil amounting to $675 million.

This is versus the previous year’s 16, 429 million barrels that cost $878.7 million.