According to preliminary petroleum statistics for July released by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy on August 29, crude oil imports totaled 1002 million kiloliters (down 0.3% year-on-year), marking the second consecutive month of declines compared to the previous year.
<Trends in crude oil imports and dependence on the Middle East>
The countries from which imports are, in descending order of volume, the United Arab Emirates (430 million kl, down 12.8%), Saudi Arabia (346 million kl, down 3.5%), the United States (94 kl, up 5734.3%), Kuwait (78 kl, down 1.0%), and Qatar (23 kl, down 34.6%).
The dependence on the Middle East was 87.6%, a decrease of 10.0 percentage points compared to the same month last year.
Fuel oil production reached 1033 million kiloliters (up 7.7%), exceeding the previous year's figures for the second consecutive year. Looking at individual fuel types, all types (gasoline, naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, A heavy oil, and B/C heavy oil) also exceeded the figures for the same month last year.
Fuel oil inventories rose to 9.3 million kiloliters (up 5.2%), exceeding the previous year's figures for the fifth consecutive month. By fuel type, naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, and heavy fuel oil A all exceeded the previous year's figures, while gasoline, diesel fuel, and heavy fuel oil B and C all fell below the previous year's levels.
