TOKYO: Japan crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose 19.3% month on month to an average of 1.39 million b/d in November, preliminary data released Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. the Saudi crude imports in November were also up 12.5% from the same period a year earlier on a barrel-per-day basis.
Japan’s crude imports from key Middle Eastern producers including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait rose in November as various Northeast Asian end-users had switched focus away from North and Central American supply due to the onslaught of Hurricane Harvey in the late third quarter. A string of loading schedule delays for US and Mexican crudes during August and September had encouraged many Japanese, South Korean and Chinese refining companies to concentrate their crude procurement for November delivery in the Persian Gulf market.
