Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan in May fell 27.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.43 million barrels, or 175,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the 14th month in a row, government data showed Wednesday.
As Japan’s fourth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 7.2 percent of the Asian nation’s total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Japan’s overall imports of crude oil grew 5.9 percent year-on-year to 2.42 million bpd, up for the first time in 17 months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 92.9 percent of the total, unchanged from the year before.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained Japan’s No.1 oil supplier, with imports from the country jumping 28.8 percent from a year earlier to 940,000 bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 825,000 bpd, down 11.5 percent. Qatar ranked third with 257,000 bpd and Russia fifth with 141,000 bpd, respectively.
Japan is the world’s-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US
Source: Kuwait News Agency