Japan's oil imports rise 13% in August as US supplies surge

(Recasts with additional details in paragraphs 1-6) By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) — Japan's crude oil imports rose 13.1% in August from a year earlier, driven by a surge in US shipments, while higher supplies from Mexico and a recovery in purchases from Saudi Arabia also helped, official data showed on Wednesday. Imports rose to 2.51 million barrels per day (12.36 million kilolitres), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said on Wednesday, marking a third consecutive monthly increase despite disruptions from prolonged conflicts in the Middle East. Imports from the Middle East fell 28.4% year on-year in August. Shipments from Japan's two largest suppliers before the Iran war began in February, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, fell 29.9% and 11.9%, respectively. The decline in Middle East shipments was less severe than the 68% drop in April, 49.7% in May and 32.4% in June, but exceeded July's 21.4% drop. Meanwhile, imports from the US jumped more than 12-fold from a year earlier to about 844,685 bpd (4.16 million kl), while supplies from Central and South America, including Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia, increased sharply as well. Japan also imported crude from Australia, Canada, Brunei and South Sudan. The Middle East accounted for 94% of Japan's crude imports in 2025. In August, that share fell to 60.7%, marking an 11th consecutive year-on-year decline. Meanwhile, the US share reached 33.7%, close to Saudi Arabia's 34%. Japan's domestic oil product sales last month fell 3.2% from a year earlier to 2.19 million barrels per day (bpd), the data showed. Gasoline sales dropped 3.7% to 813,639 bpd, while kerosene sales fell 16.9% from a year earlier to 53,542 bpd. The table below outlines Japan's product sales, imports and other statistics for August. Figures are converted to bpd from kl unless otherwise noted. Inventory volumes are in millions of barrels. Percentage changes are based on bpd. (1 kilolitre is equal to 6.2898 barrels) Product/Volume Aug Jul M/M(%) Yr/Yr(%) Crude Imports 2,507,773 2,377,800 5.5 13.1 Processed 2,348,256 2,402,911 -2.3 -1.8 Shipment 236 827 -71.4 -93.9 Oil product sales 2,185,676 2,162,380 1.1 -3.2 gasoline 813,639 791,233 2.8 -3.7 kerosene 53,542 54,238 -1.3 -16.9 naphtha 577,695 502,315 15.0 3.1 Product imports 390,949 404,103 -3.3 -36.6 gasoline 58,543 81,551 -28.2 -56.3 kerosene 10,148 7,594 33.6 -6.5 naphtha 314,265 291,218 7.9 -22.2 Product exports 499,497 573,408 -12.9 7.2 gasoline 60,608 63,276 -4.2 434.9 kerosene 20,144 19,832 1.6 45.1 jet fuel 172,562 163,096 5.8 7.5 gas oil 94,700 158,728 -40.3 -26.2 fuel oil B, C 149,057 167,347 -10.9 3.1 Refinery Output 2,219,126 2,339,955 -5.2 -3.4 gasoline 756,702 784,343 -3.5 1.7 kerosene 85,596 106,316 -19.5 -33.9 naphtha 235,979 219,432 7.5 4.5 jet fuel 238,093 236,659 0.6 10.3 gas oil 572,462 646,987 -11.5 -7.4 Month end Inventory Aug Jul M/M(%) Yr/Yr(%) Crude 77.8 72.3 7.7 19.6 Products 56.9 59.3 -4.2 -10.8 gasoline 9.3 10.8 -13.5 -7.5