06-06-00 Philippine oil consumption fell 5 % from a year earlier to 31.398 mm barrels in the three months to March due to less government reliance on oil-fired power plants, the energy department said. Oil-fired plants with a combined capacity of 870 MW were retired during the period, it said in a statement.
"We have a comprehensive program in place to reduce our dependence on oil, which includes the accelerated development of indigenous and cleaner sources of energy and the retirement of oil-based power plants," Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui said in the statement.
Nevertheless, the net oil import bill surged 131 % to $ 929.8 mm due to higher crude prices. Crude and petroleum product imports for the period more than doubled to $ 998.2 mm while product exports more than tripled to $ 68.4 mm, the statement said.