The country, however, boosted imports of fuel oil in May to 20,959 b/d, an eight-fold rise from 2,611 b/d in the year-ago period, according to METI data.

The country boosted imports of fuel oil in May to 20,959 b/d, an eight-fold rise from 2,611 b/d a year ago, the METI data showed.

Low sulfur fuel oil exports decreased 20.4% on the week to 233,491 barrels, while high sulfur fuel oil exports slid 23% to 734,112 barrels.

The country imported crude oil from six countries, namely Angola, Congo, Gabon, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United States, up from two countries in March.

Crude oil prices edged lower after three continuous periods of growth as investors evaluated the recessionary pressures arising from supply constraints in the market.

Production remains below January-February levels of around 11 million b/d, prior to the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions, with the steepest drop seen in April, to 1.37 million mt/d (10.04 million b/d), Kommersant said, citing an unnamed source "familiar with production statistics."

But much of it is from untested fields, and as the core OPEC members face increasing pressure to tame the oil price rally, ahead of a key trip by US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia in mid-July, their ability to ramp up production will be critical.

A resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in China led to a series of lockdowns across the country and reduced crude import appetite from domestic refiners.