Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan fell 8% in July from a year earlier to 5.93 million barrels, or 191,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the third straight month, government data showed.

    As Japan's sixth-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 6.1% of the Asian nation's total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

    Japan's overall imports of crude oil declined 8.5% year-on-year to 3.14 million bpd for the first drop in four months. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 85.4% of the total, up 1.5% points from a year before.

    Japan is the world's third biggest oil consumer after the US and China, importing virtually all its fossil fuels.