• Asia nation imported 63.32m barrels, of which the Arab share was 97.8% or 61.92m barrels

Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan imported oil from Saudi Arabia in July amounting to 22.58 million barrels, representing 35.7 percent of its total import of the commodity.

This is according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Agency of Natural Resources and Energy.

In July, Japan imported 63.32 million barrels, of which the Arab share was 97.8 percent or 61.92 million barrels.

The main contribution was from six Arab countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Sudan — as well as the Neutral Zone.

Ahead of the Kingdom, the UAE emerged as the largest supplier, providing 31.07 million barrels, which accounted for 49.1 percent of the total.

Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Sudan followed, contributing 2.22 million barrels (3.5 percent), less than 0.5 million barrels (0.7 percent) and 0.2 percent, respectively — for a combined 4.98 million barrels (7.9 percent).

The Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a smaller supplier, provided 0.7 percent of Japan’s total imports.

Japan’s geopolitical decisions continue to shape its oil imports.

With the ongoing ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia, the rest of its sources in July were from Southeast Asia (0.9 percent), Central and South America (0.9 percent), the US (0.2 percent) and Oceania (0.2 percent).