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.