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TOKYO: Japan’s imports of crude oil from Arab countries rose to more than 98 percent of total imports in February with Saudi Arabia and the UAE providing 77.8 percent of the total, according to data from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Japan’s total oil imports amounted to 76.364 million barrels in February and the share of Arab oil was 98.1 percent, or 74.910 million barrels, originating from six Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Saudi Arabia was the largest source of oil imports, providing 33.108 million barrels or 43.4 percent of the total. It was followed by the United Arab Emirates with 26.244 million barrels (34.4 percent), Kuwait with 8.077 million barrels (10.6percent) and Qatar with 4.917 million barrels (6.5 percent). Japan imported about 1.495 million barrels (2 percent) from the Sultanate of Oman and 1.007 million barrels (1.3 percent) from Bahrain.
The rest of the imports showed a decline from the United States of America (1.1percent), while Southeast Asia provided 0.7percent, Brunei 0.4 percent, Malaysia 0.3 percent and Oceania 0.2 percent of the total.
Most notable in the February figures was the absence of oil imports from Russia.
In addition, Japanese companies continued to boycott Iranian oil as Japan complied with sanctions imposed by the USA on that country.
The figures above represent the quantities of oil that reached refineries, tanks and warehouses in ports in Japan during February. Japan uses oil to generate about a third of its energy needs.