U.S. Crude Oil Arrives in Japan for 1st Time since Iran Crisis

Tokyo, April 26 (Jiji Press)--Crude oil procured from the United States by Japanese oil distributor Cosmo Oil Co. arrived in Japan on Sunday for the first time as an alternative supply, following the start of U.S. attacks on Iran in late February.

A tanker carrying 910,000 barrels of U.S. crude oil arrived at an offshore jetty in Tokyo Bay in the morning amid supply concerns due to the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping chokepoint.

As this amount accounts for less than one day's consumption in Japan, the Japanese government is rushing to increase crude oil procurement from non-Middle Eastern suppliers amid tensions surrounding Iran.

The tanker departed from a port in Texas at the end of March and arrived in Japan via the Panama Canal after a voyage of about one month.

The crude oil will be transported via an undersea pipeline connected to the jetty to the Chiba refinery of Cosmo Oil, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., where it will be refined into petroleum products such as gasoline and supplied to the market.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]