Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan up first time in 2 months

Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan rose 4.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 6.27 million barrels, or 209,000 barrels per day (bpd), for the first increase in two months, according to the government data. As Japan's fifth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 5.6 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, compared with 6.1 percent in the same month of last year, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report. Japan's overall imports of crude oil grew 13.3 percent year-on-year to 111. 64 million barrels (3.72 million bpd) the first gain in two months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 85.9 percent of the total, up 4.4 percentage points from a year before. Saudi Arabia remain in the top spot, with imports from the kingdom rising 13.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.28 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 966,000 bpd, up 33.8 percent. Qatar ranked third with 447, 000 bpd and Russia fourth with 240,000 bpd, respectively. During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Kuwait in August, Abe and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah welcomed Kuwait's commitment to supplying oil to Japan in a continuous and stable manner. They also welcomed the energy cooperation between the two countries, particularly joint investment in refinery projects in third countries.