Mar. 9, 2010 (China Knowledge) - Taiwan imported 26.94 million barrels of crude oil in January, 1.9% less than a year earlier, the island's Bureau of Energy said in a statement.
The figure was also 21% less than in last December.
CPC Corp and Formosa Petrochemical Corp refined a total of 4.19 million kiloliters of oil, down 14.3% from a year ago, or down 2.3% from December, according to the statement.
Refinery utilization fell to 67.53% in January from 69.10% in December due to refinery maintenance.
Taiwan imported 34.06 million barrels of crude oil in December, up 34.2% year on year or 64.8% month on month, due to increasing demand for petrochemical products.
The December oil imports were the highest since August 2009 when the island imported 37.78 million barrels of oil, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.