Japan’s crude oil imports rose 5.1% in 2022/23 fiscal year from a year earlier, to 2.7 million barrels per day (156.56 million kilolitres), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said.

The oil imports by Japan climbed last fiscal year that ended on March 31 as economic activity has picked up from the pandemic-induced slump.

Japan’s oil imports from Russia fell 88.5% from a year earlier to 10,760 bpd, accounting for 0.4% of the nation’s total imports, as local refiners have largely suspended their imports from Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (1 kilolitre is equal to 6.2898 barrels).

In March, Japan’s crude oil imports fell 12.7% from a year earlier to 2.51 million bpd (12.36 million kl), the METI said.

There were no imports from Russia in March, though Japan bought 12,673 bpd (118,874 kl) in the first two months of 2023, according to the finance ministry’s trade data. Japan’s domestic oil product sales last month fell 2.0% from a year earlier to 2.64 million bpd, the data showed.

Gasoline sales dropped 2.4% to 738,541 bpd, while kerosene sales down 22.9% from a year earlier to 235,280 bpd, the data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi. Editing by Jane Merriman)