29-12-07

Japan's crude oil imports from Kuwait went down 1.2 % in November from a year earlier to 9.15 mm barrels but increased 10.3 % from the previous month, according to the latest data released by a government agency.
Kuwait provided 7.0 % of nation's crude oil in the reporting month, compared with 6.4 % in October and 7.5 % in the same month of last year, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency, a unit of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said in a preliminary report.

Japan is Kuwait's largest oil buyer. Japan's overall imports of crude oil rose 7.0 % in October from a year earlier to 131.45 mm barrels for the second straight month of increase, with imports from the Middle East accounting for 84.3 % of the total, down 5.1 percentage points from the year before and fell 3.2 % from October for the sixth consecutive month of decline.
Saudi Arabia remained Japan's biggest oil supplier, and imports from the country jumped 12.4 % from a year earlier to 40.38 mm barrels, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 24.30 mm barrels, down 24.0 %. Iran became third, with imports soaring 29.7 % to 19.43 mm barrels. Qatar ranked fourth with 12.63 mm barrels, down 10.9 %.

Japan has almost no oil reserves of its own and relies on crude oil imports for about 50 % of its energy needs. The country is the world's third-largest oil consumer after the US and China.
Japan imports oil through long-term contracts and direct-dealing transactions between Japanese distributors and oil-producing nations.

Source: www.kuna.net.kw