Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in September hit a six-month high of 8.33 million barrels, or 278,000 barrels per day (bpd), government data showed. Although the volume of shipments from Kuwait to Japan slid 5.2 percent from a year earlier, it marked the highest level since March, when the Gulf state exported there 318,000 bpd, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report. As Japan's fourth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 8.3 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports in September.
Japan's overall imports of crude oil fell 9.5 percent year-on-year to 100.21 million barrels (3.34 million bpd) for the seventh straight monthly decline. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 84.7 percent of the total, up 1.5 percentage points from a year before.
Saudi Arabia remained Japan's No.1 oil supplier, with imports from the kingdom growing 9.4 percent on the year to 1.03 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 835,000 bpd, down 10.4 percent. Qatar ranked third with 300,000 bpd and Russia fifth with 243,000 bpd, respectively.
Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after the US and China.