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Data: Kuwait's Jan. crude oil exports to Japan jump 26.8 pct

TOKYO, Feb 28 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in January surged 26.8 percent from a year earlier to 8.45 million barrels, or 272,000 barrels per day (bpd), for the second straight monthly expansion, government data showed Tuesday.
As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 10.0 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, compared with 7.9 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 January edged up 0.3 percent year-on-year to 2.72 million bpd, up for the first time in three months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 94.4 percent of the total, up 2.6 percentage points from the year before.
By country, Saudi Arabia remained in the top spot, with imports from the kingdom growing 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.20 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 931,000 bpd, up 13.2 percent.
Qatar ranked fourth with 125,000 bpd and the US fifth with 71,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. (end) mk.mt