Rising export of petroleum products helped Commerce Minister Kamal Nath meet 96 per cent of the targeted $160 billion worth of exports in 2007-08, but it could not contain the country's net oil import bill.

The net oil import bill in 2007-08 is likely to rise by around 41 per cent over 2006-07 as the country's refineries consumed 9 per cent more crude oil to meet surging demand even as crude oil prices rose nearly 53 per cent during the year.

The net oil import bill (import of crude oil and oil products minus export of oil products) rose to around $63.52 billion in 2007-08 compared with $45.05 billion in 2006-07. The overall oil import bill rose by nearly 38 per cent to $90.02 billion compared with $65.08 billion in 2006-07.

The country's crude oil import bill rose to $77.02 billion in 2007-08, 40 per cent over $54.99 billion in 2006-07. The price of crude oil rose from around $67 per barrel in April 2007 to over $103 per barrel in March 2008.

India imports almost 75 per cent of its crude oil requirement. According to government estimates, imports will make up almost 85 per cent of the total crude oil demand by 2012.

The value of petroleum product imports is also projected to rise around 28 per cent during the year than 2006-07. India primarily imports LPG, naphtha and diesel.

"The net import bill would have been higher if not for the fact that export of oil products rose around 17 per cent in volume terms in 2007-08," said an analyst with a consultancy firm.