Germany's Jan-Oct oil import bill down 34.4pc

FRANKFURT: Lower prices helped cut Germany's oil import bill by 34.4 percent to 28.0 billion euros ($30.30 billion) in the first 10 months of 2015 even though import volumes increased, data from the BAFA foreign trade office showed.

Russia supplied 35.2 percent of the total, while 25.4 percent came from the British and Norwegian North Sea, and 18.3 percent from OPEC members, BAFA said. Germany imports oil from more than 30 countries.

The proportion of Russian imports rose from 33.6 percent in the same 10 months a year earlier, despite the Ukraine crisis and European Commission calls for EU members to diversify away from Russian energy supplies.