Kuwait City: Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in December 2024 declined 15.7 percent from a year earlier to 4.99 million barrels, or 161,000 barrels per day (bpd), marking a decrease for the 15th consecutive month, government data showed Friday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait remains Japan's third-largest oil provider, supplying 6.3 percent of Japan's total crude imports in December, a decline from 7.2 percent in the same month of the previous year, as reported by the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency's preliminary figures.
Throughout 2024, Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan averaged 154,000 bpd, down 30.8 percent from the prior year, representing 6.6 percent of Japan's total crude imports. This trend aligns with Japan's overall reduction in crude oil imports, which fell 4.4 percent year-on-year in December to 2.54 million bpd, continuing a downward trend for the 13th month in a row. Importantly, shipments from the Middle East made up 96.3 percent of the total, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from the previous year.
Among the countries exporting to Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reclaimed the top position in December, with imports rising 28.6 percent year-on-year to 1.16 million bpd. Saudi Arabia followed with 1.00 million bpd, though this represented a decline of 14.4 percent. Qatar and Ecuador ranked fourth and fifth, with imports standing at 110,000 bpd and 45,000 bpd, respectively.
Over the full year of 2024, Japan's crude oil imports decreased by 8.5 percent to 2.32 million bpd, reflecting its status as the world's third-largest oil consumer, behind China and the United States.