Abu Dhabi, (Business News Report)|| The UAE supplies Japan with more than a third of its crude oil needs, and the quantity increased during the month of March in light of the disruption of energy supply lines due to the Russian war.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that crude oil from the UAE amounted to 34.11 million barrels, or 38.3 percent of the total, during the month of March.
Quantities amounted to 24.67 million barrels, or 31.4 percent, in February, according to the same data.
According to data from the Natural Resources and Energy Agency, Japan’s total petroleum imports amounted to 89.15 million barrels in March, compared to 78.51 million barrels in February.
In a related context, government data in Japan showed that imports of Kuwaiti crude oil jumped last March by 12 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 6.28 million barrels, equivalent to 203 thousand barrels per day.
The data issued by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of Japan in a preliminary report stated that Kuwait, as the fourth largest oil supplier to Japan, accounted for 7.1% of Japan’s total imports of crude from Asian countries.
It added that Japan’s total imports of crude oil grew by 22.5% on an annual basis to reach 2.87 million barrels per day, an increase for the eighth consecutive month.
The agency explained that shipments from the Middle East accounted for 93.3% of Japan’s total crude imports, up 2.8% compared to the same period last year.
The UAE returned to the top of the list of Japan’s oil suppliers after Japan’s imports from it jumped 84.8% on an annual basis to reach 1.1 million barrels per day, followed by Saudi Arabia with 983,000 barrels per day, a decrease of 5.8%.
Qatar ranked third with 265,000 barrels per day, and Russia ranked fifth with 104,000 barrels per day.
Japan is the third largest consumer of oil in the world after China and the United States.
