Japan’s overall imports of crude oil in March 2009 dropped 16.7% year-on-year to 117.54 million barrels (3.79 million bpd).
Exports from the Middle East fell 11.3% to 105.94 million barrels and accounted for 90.1% of the total, up 5.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
Saudi Arabia continued as Japan’s biggest oil supplier, though imports from the kingdom dipped 11.8% from the year-ago to 36.36 million barrels, followed by UAE with 23.69 million barrels, down 31.3%.
Iran shipments shrank 13.5% to 14.64 million barrels. Qatar exports were 14.62 million barrels, down 4.3%.
Earlier this week, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah confirmed Kuwait’s commitment to guarantee steady oil supplies to Japan during his visit in Tokyo.
Japan is the world’s third-largest oil buyer after the US and China, and it depends on crude oil imports for about 50% of its energy necessities. The country buys oil through long-term contracts and direct-dealing transactions between its distributors and oil-producing countries.
Exports of direct-deal, which prices are based on the average spot price of Dubai crude, the benchmark for Asia, account for about 80% of Japan’s crude imports.
