LOC10:42
07:42 GMT
TOKYO, Oct 31 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in September fell 50.1 percent from a year earlier to 4.24 million barrels, or 141,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the 12th consecutive month, government data showed Thursday.
As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 5.8 percent of its total crude imports, compared with 10.9 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 September slid 7.0 percent year-on-year to 2.43 million bpd, down for the 10th month in a row. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 92.7 percent of the total, down 3.3 percentage points from the year before.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was Japan's top oil supplier last month, with imports from the country growing 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.04 million bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 931,000 bpd, down 3.6 percent. The US ranked fourth with 137,000 bpd and Qatar fifth with 107,000 bpd, respectively.
Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end)
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