LOC11:55
08:55 GMT
TOKYO, Sept 30 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan jumped 38.9 percent in August from a year earlier to 5.33 million barrels, or 172,000 barrels per day (bpd), up for the first time in four months, government data showed Tuesday.
As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 7.8 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, compared with 5.5 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 August shrank 1.9 percent year-on-year to 2.22 million bpd, down for the third month in a row. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 95.8 percent of the total, up 1.0 percentage point from the year before.
Saudi Arabia returned to the top spot, with imports from the kingdom increasing 10.4 percent from a year earlier to 967,000 bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 908,000 bpd, down 11.3 percent. The US ranked fourth with 69,000 bpd and Qatar fifth with 48,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end)
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