Kuwait's crude oil exports to Japan in June fell 24.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.21 million barrels, or 174,000 barrels per day (bpd), down for the ninth consecutive month, government data showed Wednesday. As Japan's third-biggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 8.3 percent of the Asian nation's total crude imports, compared with 10.1 percent in the same month of last year, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report. Japan's overall imports of crude oil in June declined 8.7 percent year-on-year to 2.08 million bpd, down for the seventh month in a row. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 96.4 percent of the total, down 0.9 percentage points from the year before. The United Arab Emirates remained in the top spot, with imports from the country edging up 0.8 percent from a year earlier to 860,000 bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia with 859,000 bpd; down 9.0 percent. Qatar ranked fourth with 81,000 bpd and Ecuador fifth with 33,000 bpd, respectively. Japan is the worl d's-third biggest oil consumer after China and the US. Source: Kuwait News Agency