May 2, 2026

Japan acquires Russian crude for the first time since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

Japanese oil company Taiyo Oil has acquired a shipment of Russian crude oil, according to media reports from both countries on Saturday. This marks Tokyo's first oil purchase from Moscow since the Strait of Hormuz was closed due to the war between the United States and Israel against Iran. An oil tanker originating from the Russian Sakhalin-2 field will soon arrive in the archipelago, an official from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) told the local news agency Kyodo. The official assured that the purchase, part of Tokyo's efforts to diversify its energy supply, is occurring within the framework of the temporary lifting of US sanctions on Moscow's crude oil. The Japanese newspaper Nikkei specified that the acquisition by Taiyo Oil, the archipelago's fourth-largest refiner, is currently a one-off event at the request of the Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. For its part, according to a statement from the Japanese refinery cited by the Russian news agency Tass, "no decisions have been made regarding future purchases of crude oil" from Sakhalin-2. The outbreak of the war initiated by Israel and the United States against Iran on February 28 and Iran's practically total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with the US naval blockade against Iranian ships and ports, has caused a global disruption in crude oil supply that particularly affects Asia. Japan, which imports around 90% of its crude oil from the Middle East, has sought in recent weeks to diversify its energy sources while releasing millions of barrels from its strategic reserves and subsidizing oil companies to reduce fuel prices. The Japanese government began releasing the equivalent of 20 days of supply from its state crude reserves into the market on Friday, despite having reported a delay due to bad weather, in the second release of Japanese state crude reserves since the start of the war. EFE