Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s imports of Saudi oil in February totaled 30.85 million barrels, representing 45.8 percent of the overall figure, as reported by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Agency of Natural Resources and Energy.

Japan imported a total of 67.3 million oil barrels in February, of which the Arab share was 97.3 percent or 65.48 million barrels.

The importance of Arab countries in Japan’s energy security was highlighted by their significant contribution to Japan’s oil imports. The main oil exporters to Japan were the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, as well as the Neutral Zone.

The UAE provided 25.8 million barrels, which accounted for 38.4 percent of the total imports.

Kuwait supplied 3.8 million barrels (5.7 percent), Qatar provided about 3 million barrels (4.5 percent), and Oman followed with about 1.5 million barrels or 2.2 percent.

The Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a smaller supplier, provided a little over 468,000 barrels or 0.7 percent of Japan’s total imports.

International geopolitics continued to shape Japan’s February oil imports. With the ongoing ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia, the rest of Japan’s oil imports in February were sourced from Oceania (1%), Ecuador (0.9%) and Canada (0.8%).