Oil imports fell in June for an eighth month as refiners and power utilities continued to slash crude requirements amid production cuts.
Japan shipped in 15.02 million kiloliters, or about 3.15 million barrels a day, of crude oil last month, down 19.1 percent from a year earlier, a preliminary Finance Ministry trade report released Thursday showed. Imports of liquefied natural gas declined 9 percent in June to 5.16 million tons.
Ten regional utilities, led by Tokyo Electric Power Co., reduced output last month by 5.6 percent on sluggish demand from factories, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies, reducing their use of oil and LNG, the two main fuels for thermal power plants.