Japan did not import oil from Russia in June for the fourth month in a row, data released by Japan’s finance ministry showed on Thursday, with imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) falling by 21.4% from a year ago.

Energy-poor Japan decided to keep its stakes in Russian oil and LNG projects on the Pacific island of Sakhalin as a matter of energy security, despite condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supporting Kyiv with funds and accepting refugees.

In June, Japan did not import oil from Russia, the same as in May, April and March, and its imports of coal from Russia dropped 86.4% from the same period a year ago, the data showed.

In January-June, Japan’s imports of oil from Russia has fallen by 94.2% from the same period a year ago, imports of LNG were down by 16.5% and shipments of coal have reduced by 73%.

The finance ministry could not be reached for a comment after business hours. In did not provide explanation for the figures in the released data either.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Katya Golubkova,additional reporting by Sakura Murakami in Tokyo and Florence Tan in Singapore; editing by David Evans)