Crude oil shipments to Japan from its biggest supplier, Saudi Arabia, won’t be impacted by the agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to cut output, a senior official of the country said January 26, 2017.
«The recent agreement among OPEC and non-OPEC members for oil exports reduction will not impact our commitments and oil exports to Japan,» Aabed Al-Saadoun, deputy minister for Company Affairs at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, said. He was speaking at an oil industry symposium in Tokyo, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia is the largest crude supplier to Japan, with its oil accounting for 1.13 million barrels per day (MMBPD), or 33.5% of its total imports in 2015.
Under the accord reached late last year, OPEC, Russia and other non-OPEC members will curtail oil output by nearly 1.8 MMBPD, initially for 6 months, beginning Jan. 1.
Saudi Arabia, which said it pumped 10.47 MMBPD in December, has cut production slightly below the target it adopted under the agreement, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said earlier this month.
State-run Saudi Aramco has cut February crude supplies to refiners in India and Southeast Asia, but it kept February supplies to most North Asian refiners at full volume for a 2nd month, trade sources told Reuters, indicating it will have to continue cutting exports to Europe and the U.S.
In a move that reflects a strategic relationship with Japan, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is considering travelling to Japan in March, which would be the 1st visit by a ruler since King Faisal in 1971, the Nikkei business daily reported yesterday.
