Japan will procure crude oil from Russia for the first time since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February closed the Strait of Hormuz. A tanker carrying oil from Russia's Sakhalin-2 project is heading to the country, a trade ministry official said Saturday. Resource-poor Japan aims to diversify away from Middle East imports.
A Japanese trade ministry official said Saturday that wholesaler Taiyo Oil Co purchased the shipment of crude oil from Russia's Sakhalin-2 project in the Far East. The project is led by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom, with major stakes held by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co. Year-round crude oil production began in 2008, followed by liquefied natural gas exports the next year.
The Russian oil is not subject to U.S. and European sanctions imposed after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Global ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed the tanker left Sakhalin in late April and is expected to arrive in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.
The move comes as Japan, heavily reliant on Middle East crude imports, intensifies efforts to diversify supplies following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
