Kuwait's March crude oil exports to Japan up 1st time in 18 months

TOKYO, April 30 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in March grew 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 5.23 million barrels, or 169,000 barrels per day (bpd), marking the first expansion since September 2023, government data showed Wednesday. As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 6.7 percent of its total crude imports, compared with 6.9 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 the reporting month increased 5.4 percent year-on-year to 2.52 million bpd, up for the first time in two months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 96.9 percent of the total, up 2.2 percentage points from the year before. The United Arab Emirates returned to the top spot in March, although imports from the country edged down 0.9 percent from the year before to 1.05 million bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 996,000 bpd, up 1.4 percent. Qatar ranked fourth with 139,000 bpd and Oman fifth with 80,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end) mk.aa