Oil import bill rises 37.6% in H1
Higher global oil prices pushed the Philippines’ net oil import bill to rise by over a third in the first half of 2017, according to the latest data from the Department of Energy (DOE).
The net import bill, or the difference between oil imports and exports, amounted to $4.27 billion from January to June this year, up 37.6 percent year on year.
Philippines’ total oil import bill amounted to $4.69 billion, 37.1 percent higher than the year ago.
“This was attributed to the combined effects of higher import cost and higher volume of imports,” the DOE said.
Total product import cost averaged $58 per barrel versus the average cost of $44.77 per barrel the previous year.
Meanwhile, the peso was also generally weaker during the period, averaging 49.93:$1 compared to an average rate of 46.90:$1 last year.
Of the total imports, 60.1 percent comprised finished products and 39.9 percent was crude oil.
The country imported a total of 48,592 million barrels of petroleum in the first half, 9.6 percent more than the previous year.
Imported crude oil reached 35,759 million barrels, down 5.7 percent from a year ago.
Majority of the imported crude oil, or 86 percent of the total, is sourced from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia was the top supplier with 34.9 percent, followed by Kuwait with 28.4 percent and UAE with 15.6 percent.
The Philippines also imported 9.8 percent from Russia and Japan, 2.8 percent from Australia and one percent from the ASEAN region.
On the other hand, the Philippines’ export earnings amounted to $417.4 million this year, up 31.6 percent due to higher free on board per barrel at $55.75 per barrel.
The DOE data showed total exports of the country’s petroleum products surged 79.9 percent to 5,920 million barrels.
The total export mix comprised of condensate (24.7 percent), naphtha (15.5 percent), propylene (15.1 percent), pygas (14.1 percent), gasoline (10.1 percent), mixed C4 (7.9 percent), mixed xylene (7.5 percent), toluene (2.9 percent), benzene (1.8 percent) and LPG (0.38 percent).