Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan jump 12.2 percent

Tokyo, April 4 (IANS/WAM) Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan jumped 12.2 percent in February from a year earlier to 8.13 million barrels, or 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) — up for the second month in a row, government data showed.

Kuwait News Agency KUNA quoted the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency as saying that Kuwait supplied 8.1 percent of the Asian nation’s total crude imports as Japan’s fourth-biggest oil provider.

Japan’s overall imports of crude oil fell 1.9 percent year-on-year to 3.46 million bpd for the third consecutive monthly drop.

Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 82.5 percent of the total, up 0.1 percentage points from the year before.

Saudi Arabia remained Japan’s No.1 oil supplier, but imports from the kingdom declined 4.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.20 million bpd.

Japan is the world’s-third biggest oil consumer after the US and China.