Japan's Oil Crisis Eases, But the Import Bill Keeps Climbing

The oil crisis in Japan has eased in recent weeks as the resource-poor G7 economy that depended on the Middle East for 90% of its crude oil supply has managed to diversify purchases and moved to release stocks from strategic reserves. However, the economic cost of sourcing crude oil supply from faraway places to offset the major loss of deliveries from the Strait of Hormuz is high, with soaring oil import bills weighing on the industrial and economic activity. As much as 90% of Japanese companies said in a June survey by Teikoku Databank Ltd that…