Crude oil procured via routes bypassing the Strait of Hormuz has arrived in Japan. The country’s government and oil wholesalers are stepping up efforts to secure supplies from alternative routes amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
A tanker carrying about 116,000 kiloliters of oil from the US state of Alaska arrived at a mooring facility in Tokyo Bay around noon on Sunday. The cargo was purchased by Idemitsu Kosan. It will be transported through an undersea pipeline to a refinery in Sodegaura City, Chiba Prefecture.
Another tanker loaded with about 36,000 kiloliters of oil from the African nation of South Sudan reportedly reached a refinery in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, on Sunday morning. That shipment was procured by Taiyo Oil.
The combined amount of oil inside both vessels is equivalent to about half a day’s consumption in Japan.
The country’s industry ministry says the arrivals were the first crude oil sourced from Alaska and Africa since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed.
Japanese oil imports in April dropped to 35 percent of the previous year’s level. But the ministry forecasts that the country will be able to secure oil through alternative sources in June totaling more than 70 percent of the same month last year.
