Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan down 12.8%

Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan fell 12.8 percent in July from a year earlier to 6.06 million barrels, or 195,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the fourth straight month, according to government data.
As Japan's fifth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 6.3 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Japan's overall imports of crude oil slid 11.1 percent year-on-year to 3.10 million bpd for the fifth consecutive monthly drop. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 85.0 percent of the total, down 1.2 percentage points from a year before.
Saudi Arabia remained Japan's No.1 oil supplier, with imports from the kingdom slightly increasing 1.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.05 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 823,000 bpd, down 5.5 percent. Qatar ranked third with 349,000 bpd and Russia fourth with 238,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after the US and China.