TOKYO, April 30 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in March fell 37.9 percent from a year earlier to 5.61 million barrels, or 181,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the 12th straight month, government data showed Friday.
As Japan's fourth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 7.7 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 plunged 25.0 percent year-on-year to 2.34 million bpd, down for the 15th month in a row. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 90.5 percent of the total, down 3.2 percentage points from the year before.
Saudi Arabia remained in the top spot, but imports from the kingdom declined 4.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.04 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 594,000 bpd, down 50.8 percent.
Qatar ranked third with 246,000 bpd and Russia fifth with 129,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end) mk.aa