Oil import bill up 25% in H1

The country’s oil import bill rose to $6.34 billion in the first half of the year due to a spike in global prices. The import bill was up almost 25 percent from the $5.09 billion reported in the same period last year.

Data from the Department of Energy (DoE) showed that the import cost of crude oil rose 41.8 percent to $3.76 billion, at an average CIF cost of $108.9 a barrel, while the cost of finished petroleum products also rose by 5.9 percent to $2.58 billion at an average CIF cost of $113.865 a barrel.

However, import volumes for crude oil and finished petroleum products combined dipped slightly to 57.179 million barrels during the period, from a year-ago level of 62.4 million barrels.

According to the DoE, the 22-percent decline in the volume of finished petroleum products imported in the first six months of the year was due to an increase in local refinery production output during the period. The volume of crude oil imported, meanwhile, rose 2.4 percent to 34.6 million barrels.

As of end-June 2011, actual crude and petroleum products inventory stood at 16.1 million barrels, equivalent to 51 days’ worth of supply. Compared with the same period last year, however, this was lower by 4.4 percent from the recorded stockpile of 16.8 million barrels.

During the first half, the DoE continued to enforce the Minimum Inventory Requirement wherein all oil companies, except refiners operating in the country and bulk suppliers, are required to maintain a minimum inventory equivalent to 15 days’ supply of petroleum products.

Inventory of liquefied petroleum gas companies was maintained at seven days’ supply while the refiners will need to keep a minimum inventory of 30 days’ supply equivalent, given the uncertainties on supply due to lingering concerns over the Middle East and North Africa.

The country’s total demand of petroleum products for the first half of the year registered an increase of 4.2 percent, translating to an average daily requirement of 306,300 barrels.

Also, the country’s total petroleum export earnings rose by 89 percent from $540.7 million last year to $1.02 billion, as the total volume rose by 65 percent to 7.9 million barrels as of end-June this year from 4.8 million barrels a year ago.

The total export mix comprised condensate (32 percent); fuel oil (30.7 percent); naphtha (12 percent); propylene (8.1 percent); mixed xylene (5.6 percent); toluene (3.3 percent); reformate (3.1 percent); diesel oil (2.4 percent); benzene (1.6 percent); kerosene (0.6 percent); and LPG (0.8 percent).

Major oil players accounted for 68 percent of the total export mix while the condensate exports of Shell Philippines Exploration B. V. accounted for the remaining 32 percent. A total of 1.4 million barrels of crude oil (Palawan Light) was exported to various countries during the period—a decrease of 20.4 percent from last year’s 1.7 million barrels.

This brought net oil imports—or crude and petroleum product imports minus exports—to $5.32 billion in 2011, up by 16.9 percent from the $4.55 billion posted a year ago, DoE data showed.