Japan import of RI crude fall

Japan import of RI crude fall

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan's crude oil imports from Indonesia have been falling as the nation's electric power firms burn less crude oil and depend more on coal and nuclear power, industry sources said yesterday.

Data released by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) yesterday showed that crude oil imports from Indonesia fell in April from the previous year for the seventh consecutive month.

A ministry official said lower consumption by electric power utilities rather than turmoil in the Southeast Asian nation was the reason behind the decline.

"Electric power companies are using less crude oil for direct burning, and that is the primary reason for the decline," the official said.

Crude oil imports from Indonesia amounted to 947,520 kiloliters (kl) in April, or roughly six million barrels-per-day (bpd), down 26.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the MITI data.