The shipment is the first crude oil import from Central Asia since tensions in the Middle East escalated and will be refined into petroleum products at ENEOS's Negishi refinery.
The Japanese government has been accelerating efforts to secure alternative crude supplies that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, including imports from the United States and Russia, as diversifying procurement sources becomes an increasingly important priority.
The shipment from Azerbaijan amounts to roughly 283,000 barrels of crude oil, equivalent to only a small fraction of Japan’s daily oil consumption....
