Japan Backs Overseas Oil Pipelines to Reduce Hormuz Dependence

Japan is planning to join the rush to diversify oil export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz by investing in pipeline projects abroad, notably in the Middle East. Citing a document produced by the country’s economy ministry, Bloomberg reported the investment will be made through Japanese companies in the form of risk-capital funding. Earlier this year, media reported that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had asked Japan to take part in the expansion of oil pipeline networks in the Middle East amid the rush to shift flows away from the Strait…