Japan’s oil imports fell by 8.5% in May

The Japanese Ministry of Finance said that the country’s customs-cleared imports of crude oil fell by 8.5% in May compared to their level in the same month a year ago.

Preliminary data showed that Japan, the fourth largest buyer of crude oil in the world, imported 2.17 million barrels per day of crude oil last month, according to Reuters.

Japan’s total imports of liquefied natural gas reached 4.872 million tons last month, an increase of 5.6% year on year.

The data reported that imports of thermal coal used to generate electricity decreased by 1.5% in May to 6.095 million tons.

Preliminary GDP data showed that the economy contracted by 2.0% in the period from January to March on an annual basis from the previous quarter, which is a greater decline than 1.5%.