Japan Taps Reserves and New Suppliers to Beat the Oil Blockade

Despite the Hormuz crisis, Japan has secured the same volumes of oil imports for July as it did a year ago, as it is boosting imports from producers not dependent on the Strait to deliver their crude, sources familiar with the procurement plans told Kyodo News on Thursday. Resource-poor Japan is one of the biggest energy importers globally and relied on the Middle East for as much as 95% of its oil imports before the war broke out. Most of the oil came from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar. Of these Middle Eastern…