PHNOM PENH, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia imported 727,500 tons of petroleum in the first five months of the year, a 2 percent drop from 744,700 tons a year earlier, the figures of the Ministry of Commerce showed Saturday.
During the January-May period this year, the country paid 693 million U.S. dollars for, down 8 percent from 754 million U.S. dollars year on year.
Kong Putheara, chief of the ministry's statistics and planning department, said the import has slightly declined months ahead of the July 28 parliamentary polls, but he believed that demand will bounce back after the polls.
A liter of premium gasoline goes for 1.38 U.S. dollars in Phnom Penh on Saturday.
The Southeast Asia nation totally purchases oil and gas from Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand as its seabed oil and gas reserves have not been exploited.
Cambodia and China signed a memorandum of understanding on a 5 million ton oil refinery project in early April during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the country.
The project is estimated to cost 1.67 billion U.S. dollars.