Kuwait's October crude oil exports to Japan down 51.1 Pct

TOKYO, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in October fell 51.1 percent from a year earlier to 3.81 million barrels, or 123,000 barrels per day (bpd), for the first decline in two months, government data showed Thursday.
As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 5.3 percent of the country's total crude imports, compared with 9.2 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 October shrank 15.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.31 million bpd, down for the fourth straight month. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 92.0 percent of the total, down 2.7 percentage points from the year before. By country, Saudi Arabia returned to the top spot, although imports from the kingdom decreased 3.9 percent from the year before to 978,000 bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 934,000 bpd, down 14.5 percent. The US ranked fourth with 82,000 bpd and Qatar fifth with 73,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end) mk.aa