Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan down 8.2%

Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan fell 8.2 percent in October from a year earlier to 5.72 million barrels, or 184,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the second consecutive month, government data showed.
As Japan's fifth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 5.6 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Japan's overall imports of crude oil grew 3.9 percent year-on-year to 3.31 million bpd for the first gain in eight months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 85.2 percent of the total, up 2.5 percentage points from a year before.
Saudi Arabia remained Japan's number-one oil supplier, with imports from the kingdom surging 20.0 percent from a year earlier to 1.19 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 866,000 bpd, up 15.6 percent.
Russia ranked third with 277,000 bpd and Qatar fourth with 263,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the world's-third biggest oil consumer after the US and China.
Last week, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa welcomed the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to maintain its crude oil output ceiling at 30 million bpd, despite recent drop in prices.
Japan has boosted fuel imports for thermal power generation, as the country's 48 commercial reactors are currently offline in the wake of the radiation accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.