The country’s net oil import went up by nearly a third in 2017 because of higher volume coupled with higher import cost.
Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) said that the net import bill, or the difference between oil imports and exports, amounted to $9.92 billion in 2017. 29.5 percent higher versus $6.89 billion in 2016.
The country’s total oil import bill is at $9.89 billion, 31.2 percent higher from $7.54 billion in the previous year.
“This was attributed to the combined effects of higher import cost and higher volume of product imports vis-à-vis last year,” the DOE said.
59.5 percent of the total imports are finished products and 40.5 percent is crude oil.
Data showed that that total product import cost for the period averaged $60.33 per barrel.
The Philippines imported a total of 97,530 million barrels of petroleum in the first semester which is 11.8 percent more than 2016’s 87,240 million barrels.
Meanwhile, imported crude oil reached 73,943 million barrels, 6.1 percent lower than the previous year.
Exports earnings of the country amounted to $972.5 million in 27, up 48.6 percent from $654.4 million. This is due to the growth in export of petroleum products of 6.2 percent to 13,772 million barrels.
