Beijing, China - April 3, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Screenshot of report from The Nikkei

FILE: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan - 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of oil storage tanks

FILE: Japan - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of oil storage tanks along sea

FILE: Japan - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of gas station, worker refueling car
5. Amount of gas shown on pump

FILE: Osaka, Japan - March 26, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of resident refueling car

FILE: Tokyo, Japan - Feb 6, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of cars being refueled at gas station
8. Gas station

FILE: Tokyo, Japan - Nov 20, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of traffic
10. Japanese prime minister's office, security guards; traffic

FILE: Tokyo, Japan - Dec 19, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Pedestrians; National Diet building

Japan's crude oil imports fell sharply in March to their lowest monthly level since 2013, as tensions in the Middle East lingered on to disrupt energy flows, Japanese media, The Nikkei, reported on Friday.

The report said statistics from Kpler, a data and analytics platform, showed that Japan imported 52.03 million barrels of crude oil in March, down roughly 30 percent from the previous month. The Nikkei said Kpler's figure also demonstrated that Japan's crude oil imports highly depended on producers in the Gulf region in March.

Oil imports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait accounted for 54 percent, 35 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of the total in March, bringing Asia's third largest economy's overall reliance on the Middle East to 96 percent.

As most of the crude arriving in March had already been shipped before the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, imports are expected to decline even further in April. Kpler forecast Japan's crude imports for April will fall to 42.15 million barrels, dropping around 41 percent from February.

Imports of refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and naphtha, are also shrinking. Kpler said imports of those products were projected to fall by about 30 percent month on month.

In light of mounting supply pressure, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Thursday that the government does not rule out calling on the public to save electricity and fuel.