A tanker has arrived at an oil refinery in Japan from the Middle East. This comes as the ongoing conflict in the region is raising concerns about crude oil supplies.
The tanker was carrying about 100,000 kiloliters of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. It arrived at a petroleum wholesaler’s refinery in Ehime Prefecture’s Imabari City on Sunday.
The oil was transported along a route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively blocked.
Taiyo Oil says this is the first shipment of crude oil from the Middle East to reach Japan since the US and Israel launched their military operation against Iran.
The wholesaler says the crude oil will be put into tanks at the refinery on or around Monday. It will then be processed into gasoline, gas oil, naphtha and other petrochemical products before it is shipped mainly to western Japan.
Ishikawa Junichi is the director of Shikoku Operations, a refinery owned by Taiyo Oil. He says he is relieved that he was able to receive the shipment without too much trouble, despite the tense situation in the Middle East. Ishikawa says his firm will continue to work to diversify procurement sources and respond to the situation in coordination with relevant government offices.