German oil imports on the rise

German oil imports rose strongly in January to 9.31 mm tons, marking a 5.2 % gain on the 8.85 mm tons in January 2003, but a double-digit drop in prices lowered the overall bill, Berlin reported.
The Economics Ministry cited an average price of EUR 182.33 per ton, down 18.2 % from the average of EUR 222.87 per ton in January last year.

With that price decline the oil import bill in January was EUR 274 mm lower at EUR 1.7 bn, the ministry said, citing preliminary figures from the federal agency for industry BAFA.
The Russian Federation led the list of Germany's oil suppliers, at just under 3.36 mm tons in January, followed by Norway (1.97 mm), Britain (1.06 mm) and Libya (1 mm tons), the ministry said.