TOKYO, Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan in July hit a 14-month high of 7.20 million barrels, or 232,000 barrels per day (bpd), government data showed Tuesday.
Kuwait’s oil bound for Japan surged 63.9 percent from a year earlier, and the monthly volume was the biggest since May 2020, when it recorded 7.48 million barrels (241,000 bpd), the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Kuwait overtook Qatar to become Japan’s third-biggest oil provider last month, supplying 11.2 percent of the Asian nation’s total crude imports.
Japan’s overall imports of crude oil in July edged down 0.3 percent year-on-year to 2.08 million bpd for the first decline in three months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 96.3 percent of the total, up 1.1 percentage points from the year before.
The United Arab Emirates returned to be Japan’s No.1 oil supplier, with imports from the country rising 15.1 percent from a year earlier to 818,000 bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 735,000 bpd, down 20.9 percent.
Qatar ranked fourth with 187,000 bpd and Ecuador fifth with 23,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world’s-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US.
Source: Kuwait News Agency