Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Japan's crude oil imports tumbled in May as a heavy round of maintenance work took a big bite out of refineries' appetite for crude. Imports fell by 234,000 b/d from April to 2.42 million b/d in May, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) (IOD Jun.1'21). However, May imports rose by 134,000 b/d from the same month of last year. One of the world's biggest crude importers, Japan kicked off major refinery maintenance turnarounds in late April. At least 190,000 b/d of Japanese refining capacity began planned maintenance in late April followed by another 575,000 b/d or more in May. Refineries' crude runs had already declined before the maintenance work started because of weak domestic demand caused in part by the coronavirus pandemic. Refineries' capacity utilization sank from 70.7% in the week ending Apr. 10 to just 58.1% in the week ending May 22, according to the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ). It recovered slightly to 62.9% in the week ending May 29. Japan's Top Crude Suppliers ('000 b/d) May'21 Apr'21 Chg. May'20 Chg. Jan-May'21 UAE 940 1,044 -104 730 210 802 Saudi Arabia 825 890 -65 932 -107 1,018 Qatar 257 253 4 153 104 238 Kuwait 175 205 -30 241 -66 188 Russia 141 85 56 92 49 100 Bahrain 32 44 -12 64 -32 0 Oman 16 0 16 0 16 12 Ecuador 8 63 -55 21 -13 39 Malaysia 6 16 -9 8 -2 11 Libya 6 0 6 0 6 1 Others 9 53 -45 41 -32 86 Total 2,416 2,653 -237 2,282 134 2,496 Source: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
