Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan rose 8.9 percent in February from a year earlier to 7.25mn barrels, or 259,000 barrels per day (bpd), KUNA news agency has reported.
The oil rich Gulf Arab state, which is also Japan’s fifth-biggest oil provider, supplied 7.1% of the Asian nation’s total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
However, Japan’s overall crude oil imports fell 7.5% year-on-year to 3.65mn bpd, its fourth consequtive drop since November last year.
Shipments from the Middle East were stable accounting for 82.4% of the total, up 0.3 percentage points from the year before.
While Saudi Arabia remained Japan’s biggest oil supplier, imports from the Kingdom slid 1.5% from a year earlier to 1.2mn bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 832,000 bpd, down 8.9%.
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Russia was ranked third with 320,000 bpd and Qatar fourth with 317,000 bpd.
Japan is the world’s-third biggest consumer of crude after the US and China and a major market for GCC exporters.Â
