Saudi, Abu Dhabi crude stocks in Japan climb 28% in November

Tokyo — Crude oil stocks held by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in Japan surged 28% month on month to 8.87 million barrels at the end of November after Saudi Aramco discharged a crude cargo at its leased oil storage terminal in Okinawa.

The supply of 1.41 million kiloliters of crude, equating to four days of Japanese oil consumption, increased from 1.1 million kiloliters a month earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Saudi Aramco also made shipments from the Okinawa terminal in October and March, a source familiar with the matter said. S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow showed the fully laden VLCC Arsan discharged a crude cargo there from Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura over November 4-7.

Saudi Aramco shipped a 136,000 mt Arab Light crude cargo on the Suezmax tanker Glorycrown from the Okinawa terminal to China in October after shipping another crude cargo on the Suezmax Jag Lakshya to the same country in March.

According to METI data covering January-November 2019, a total of 1.09 million kiloliters, or 6.86 million barrels, of crude oil was shipped from Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi's leased oil storage terminals in Japan in shipments made in March, July, August and October.

The crude stocks held by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi accounted for 1.7% of Japan's total petroleum reserves of 81.87 million kiloliters, or 514.95 million barrels, at the end of November, equating to 235 days of Japanese oil consumption, a slight drop from 81.98 million kiloliters at the end of October, METI data showed.

Supply security

Japan's petroleum reserves have been in the spotlight following the escalation of tensions in the Middle East between the US and Iran. The Middle East supplies close to 90% of Japan's oil imports.

Japan agreed Monday to boost Abu Dhabi's leased crude oil storage capacity to 1.3 million kiloliters, or 8.18 million barrels, from 1 million kiloliters, to enhance its security of supply and expand the Middle East supplier's access to the East Asian market.

Under the agreement, which involved the renewal of the existing joint crude oil storage scheme for three years, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company can use the leased facility at Kiire in southwestern Japan as an East Asian supply base in exchange for prioritizing supply to Japan in the event of an emergency.

Following the latest deal, crude storage capacity in Japan leased to its top two crude suppliers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, rose to a total of 2.6 million kiloliters, or 16.35 million barrels, equating to eight days of domestic consumption.