Arab News Japan
TOKYO: Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil showed a modest increase in August 2023, reaching about 27.93 million barrels, or 36%, according to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. In the previous month, Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil were 27.6 million barrels, or 38%, of the total.
During the month of August, Japan imported about 77.55 million barrels, of which the Arab oil share was 94.6%, or 73.33 million barrels, supplied by six Arab countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, according to the data.
Japan imported about 35.67 million barrels from the UAE, or 46% of total imports in August. Kuwait provided 4.69 million barrels (6%) of the total in the month, and Qatar provided about 2.95 million barrels (3.8%). Japan imported about 1.5 million barrels (1.9%) from Oman, 0.6 from Bahrain, and 0.1% from the Neutral Zone.
While the Japanese ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia continued in August, the rest of Japan’s oil imports came from Central and South America (2.8%), the United States of America (0.9%), Southeast Asia (0.8%), and Oceania (1%), showing a continued increase in Japan’s dependence on the oil of Arab countries.
The figures cited represent the quantities of oil that arrived at refineries, tanks and warehouses in ports in Japan during August 2023. Japan uses oil to generate about a third of its energy needs.
