21.   India has steadily boosted crude imports from the UAE over the past few years to meet growing consumption.

22.   But oils were higher on the stronger yen which makes crude imports cheaper.

23.   This is in contrast with Japan, which has suffered from a large deficit in its trade with Gulf states given its large crude imports from the region.

24.   It gave no details of the supplies but the UAE is the top oil exporter to Japan, supplying it with nearly a quarter of its total crude imports.

25.   Refineries were forced to increase crude imports to meet demand for refined products.

26.   Taiwan announced Tuesday it would raise prices of domestic petroleum products by an average nine percent to reflect a surge in crude import costs.