Saudi Aramco Adjusts Japan Crude Deliveries on Demand, CEO Says

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, is adjusting deliveries to Japan to meet customers’ needs as the country struggles to recover from an earthquake and tsunami.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company has changed the delivery programs of some cargoes that are already on the water, Aramco Chief Executive Officer Khalid al-Falih said in Tokyo today. Aramco is Japan’s largest oil supplier.

“Japan will have a priority in the months to come as it deals with this disaster and tries to recover,” al-Falih said in an interview. “People who want less crude, we will get them less crude. People who want a higher amount of crude oil, we will get a higher amount of crude. Customers who want different kinds of crude, we will give them different grades.”

Japan, the world’s third-biggest consumer of oil, imports about 87 percent of its crude from the Middle East, according to the nation’s trade ministry. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck on March 11 halted production at six refineries comprising about 29 percent of the country’s processing capacity, Bloomberg calculations based on Petroleum Association of Japan data show.

About 1.3 million barrels of its daily refining capacity was shut or disrupted following the earthquake, Petroleum Association data show. Japan consumed 4.42 million barrels a day of crude last year, making it the third-largest user after the U.S. and China, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Al-Falih said Aramco would offer a $20 million donation to help Japanese recovery efforts. The donation will most likely be in the form of fuels, he said.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-22/saudi-aramco-adjusts-japan-crude-deliveries-on-demand-ceo-says.html)