PHNOM PENH, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia imported 1.4 million tonnes of petroleum in the first eleven months of 2013, down 2 percent from the 1.43 million tonnes a year earlier, the data of the Commerce Ministry showed Sunday.
During the January-November period, the country spent about 1. 34 billion U.S. dollars to purchase oil, down 4 percent from 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.
A liter of premium gasoline costs 1.34 U.S. dollars in Phnom Penh on Sunday.
The Southeast Asian nation entirely buys petroleum from Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand as its seabed's oil and gas reserves have not been exploited.
The country has planned to build a 5 million tonnes oil refinery under a joint venture between the Cambodian Petrochemical Company and several Chinese firms including the China Perfect Machinery Industry Corporation and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation.
The oil refinery project, estimated to cost 1.67 billion U.S. dollars, will be built on an 80-hectare area within the boundary of Preah Sihanouk province and Kampot province in Cambodia.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said in October that the country would push for the oil refinery by 2018.