Qatar is facing a big Saudi blow in the Asian oil markets

Qatar has paid a heavy price for Saudi Arabia's oil market strategy, with Qatar's oil exports falling sharply in the Korean and Japanese markets.

 “Business daily” reported that Qatar paid a high price for the Saudi oil strategy in Asia. 

This comes after Qatar's oil exports to Japan fell about a quarter last year, to its lowest level since 1990, while shipments from the giant supplier Saudi Arabia grew by 8.1%, boosting its market share in Japan.

Qatar's oil exports to South Korea dropped by 26%, to its lowest level in seven years.
 

The figures are a reflection of Saudi Arabia's strategy to maintain a larger market share in Asia, the world's largest oil consuming region, while Saudi Arabia is leading OPEC to reduce global oil production.
 
"Qatar is suffering from the fallout from the Saudi sales strategy," said Takayuki Nogami, chief economist at Jogmek. "With crude oil prices are far below their peak and the loss of sales to Japan and South Korea, Qatar has received a double and painful blow."

Japan's imports from Qatar dropped by 23 percent to 86 million barrels in 2017, according to data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance. South Korea's imports from Doha also fell to 65 million barrels last year, which is the lowest level since 2010, according to the data from the Korean national Petroleum Corporation. 
Meanwhile, Saudi shipments rose to 8.1% last year, reaching a record level of 40.2% in 2017.