According to preliminary petroleum statistics for July released by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy on August 30, crude oil imports totaled 1093 million kiloliters (down 1.9% 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, Saudi Arabia (477 million kl, 10.4% increase), the United Arab Emirates (448 million kl, 11.3% decrease), Kuwait (85 million kl, 38.9% increase), the United States (34 million kl, 7.8% decrease), and Qatar (24 million kl, 34.2% decrease).
The dependence on the Middle East was 95.8%, an increase of 1.0 percentage point compared to the same month last year.
Fuel oil production reached 1132 million kiloliters (up 7.6%), exceeding the previous year's figures for the third consecutive month. Looking at fuel types, all types (gasoline, naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, A heavy oil, and B/C heavy oil) also exceeded the previous year's figures for the same month.
Fuel oil inventories rose to 1013 million kiloliters (a 9.0% increase), marking the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year growth. By fuel type, gasoline, naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, and heavy fuel oil A and B/C all exceeded the previous year's levels, while diesel fuel inventory fell below the previous year's levels.
