LOC12:37
09:37 GMT
TOKYO, March 29 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in February declined 36,7 percent from a year earlier to 5.11 million barrels, or 176,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the fifth consecutive month, government data showed Friday.
As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 7.2 percent of its total crude imports, compared with 10.6 percent in the same month of last year, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Japan's overall imports of crude oil in the reporting month fell 7.1 percent year-on-year to 2.45 million bpd, down for the third month. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 96.7 percent of the total, down 1.4 percentage points from the year before.
The United Arab Emirates was in the top spot, with imports from the country growing 19.1 percent from the year before to 1.08 million bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 931,000 bpd, down 18.5 percent. Qatar ranked fourth with 134,000 bpd and Ecuador fifth with 42,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end)
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