JAPAN will procure crude oil from Russia for the first time since US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February that led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with a tanker heading to the country carrying oil from the Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian Far East, a trade ministry official said Saturday.
The shipment purchased by wholesaler Taiyo Oil Co comes as resource-poor Japan, heavily reliant on crude oil imports from the Middle East, steps up efforts to diversify supply. The Russian oil will not be subject to US and European sanctions imposed in the wake of Ukraine war that began in 2022. The Sakhalin-2 oil and natural gas development project is led by Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co major stakeholders.
Yearround crude oil production began in 2008 and export of liquefied natural gas started in the following year. Global ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed that the tanker left Sakhalin in late April. It is expected to arrive in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan, the official of the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said.
Kyodo
TheGlobalNewLIghtOfMyanmar