LOC10:33
07:33 GMT
TOKYO, May 31 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan jumped 13.7 percent in April from a year earlier to 8.77 million barrels, or 292,000 barrels per day (bpd); the first increase in three months, government data showed Thursday.
Kuwait overtook Qatar to become Japan's third-biggest oil provider last month, supplying 9.1 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 declined 8.8 percent year-on-year to 3.22 million bpd for the second straight monthly fall. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 89.4 percent of the total, up 5.4 percentage points from the year before.
Saudi Arabia remained in the top spot, but imports from the kingdom fell 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.30 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 898,000 bpd, up 7.8 percent. Qatar ranked fourth with 193,000 bpd and Russia fifth with 168,000 bpd, respectively.
Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after the US and China, importing virtually all its fossil fuels. (end)
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