Japan’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil jumps 95.1% during 2023

Data issued by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Wednesday showed that the country’s dependence on crude oil coming from the Middle East increased by one percentage point to reach 95.1 percent last year.

According to Reuters, in total, Japan imported 147.7 million kiloliters of oil last year (2.5 million barrels per day), a decrease of seven percent from the previous year, with the share of Saudi Arabia and the UAE rising to 40.4% and 39% from 38.1% and 37.9%, respectively.

The share of oil imports from Russia fell further to just 0.1 percent of Japan’s total crude oil imports, down from 1.3 percent in 2022 and 4 percent in 2021, a year before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that led to Western sanctions.