Japan's September oil imports fall nearly 18% as Saudi supplies drop
USO•Japan's crude oil imports fell 17.7% year over year in September to 1.94 million barrels per day, while supplies from Saudi Arabia plunged 67.5%. U.S. imports rose nearly 15-fold to about 532,775 barrels per day.
1. Crude imports decline
Japan imported 1.94 million barrels per day of crude oil in September, down 17.7% from a year earlier and marking the first year-on-year decline in four months, official data showed. Imports from the Middle East fell 40.5%, while shipments from Saudi Arabia dropped 67.5%.
2. Suppliers shift
Tankers rerouted to avoid the Red Sea took the longer Suez route to Japan, which takes about 55 days compared with 21 to 23 days via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. U.S. imports climbed nearly 15-fold to about 532,775 barrels per day, and the U.S. share of Japan's crude imports rose to 27.5%, above Saudi Arabia's 14.4%. The Middle East accounted for 68.4% of imports, its twelfth consecutive year-on-year decline in share.
3. Oil product sales fall
Japan's domestic oil product sales fell 10.4% year over year to 2.12 million barrels per day. Gasoline sales declined 8.5% to 721,597 barrels per day, while kerosene sales rose 7.3% to 88,880 barrels per day.
