TOKYO: Saudi Arabia remained the biggest oil supplier to Japan, exporting 34.28 million barrels, or 27.5 percent of Japan's total imports in January 2011, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Tokyo showed. The United Arab Emirates followed in the second place with 28.62 million barrels, or 23 percent of Japan's crude imports in the same month. This means that more than half of Japan's needs for crude oil came from two Arab countries, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Qatar, another Arab country, came third with 14.53 million barrels or 11.7 percent of total Japanese imports. Iran supplied 10.9 percent of total Japanese crude oil imports, METI said noting that refiners and trading companies imported 13.55 million barrels of crude oil from that country in January which puts Iran in the 4th place in the list of crude providers to Japan. Russia came fifth with 7.9 million barrels (6.4 percent) and Kuwait followed with 7.17 million barrels (5.8 percent). Japan also imported 3.99 million barrels from Iraq in January, which amounts to 3.2 percent of total imports. Arab countries, including Oman, Algeria, Yemen, Sudan and the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, supplied 94.791 million barrel or 76.2 percent of total Japanese crude imports. Japan doesn't import crude oil from Libya, according to METI officials. Meanwhile, crude imports form the Middle East amounted to 108.34 million barrels, or 87.1 percent of total imports in January, METI data added. Meanwhile, rates for crude oil tankers on key Asian freight routes are expected to rebound in the short term as Saudi Arabia pumps more oil to make up for a near halt in Libyan exports. For products, rates are likely to remain near 2011 lows due to stagnant activity and ample tonnage. The world's benchmark Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) export route from the Middle East to Japan tumbled to a one-month low of W57.79, or $14,096 a day, from W77.29 or $42,726 a day last week on scant demand, especially from China. The market was expected to recover in the next few days after a senior Saudi source confirmed the top oil exporter had raised output to about 9 million barrels per day. The Saudi move followed reassurances from Riyadh it was prepared to act to prevent shortages as a result of the rebellion in Libya against leader Muammar Gaddafi that has sharply reduced the fellow OPEC producer's 1.3 million bpd of exports. ''This (action) will likely support VLCC rates as the oversupply of tonnage in the Middle East makes this class the most economical pick for shipments to Europe,'' said broker firm Charles R. Weber. Baltic Exchange rates for 260,000-tonne crude tankers from West Africa to China fell to W58.67 on Monday from W67.17 last week. The unrest in Libya has had the most impact on the aframax tanker market with some Mediterranean routes up more than 400 percent. Asia-Pacific routes have not risen by as much, but were still at 2011 highs. Rates for 80,000-ton aframax tankers from Southeast Asia to East Coast Australia rose to a 2011 high.
