Taiwan’s October Oil Imports Rise as Formosa Boosts Refining

Taiwan, which imports more than 99 percent of its crude needs, purchased more of the fuel last month as Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (6505) increased processing.

Shipments rose 13.2 percent from a year earlier to 27.6 million barrels, or about 890,000 barrels a day, in October, the Ministry of Finance said in Taipei today. The island’s oil bill increased 19.5 percent to $3.13 billion, the ministry said in a statement.

October revenue for Formosa Petrochemical, Taiwan’s only publicly traded oil refiner, climbed 19 percent from a year earlier as the company increased its output of fuels and petrochemicals, the company said in a statement on Nov. 5. Crude refined in the month was 30,000 barrels a day higher than a year earlier, according to the statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yu-huay Sun in Taipei at ysun7@bloomberg.net; Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net