Cosmo tanker could reach Japan on Sunday with first U.S. shipment post-Iran war
A tanker carrying U.S. crude for Cosmo Oil is expected to arrive near Tokyo as early as Sunday, Japan's industry ministry said, marking the country's first such shipment secured after the Iran crisis began.
The tanker, loaded in Texas (U.S.) on March 22, is due to arrive off Chiba as early as on April 26 via the Panama Canal, Narumi Hosokawa, deputy director-general for immediate crisis management at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), told reporters on Friday.
The tanker is carrying 910,000 barrels, according to a Cosmo spokesperson.
METI also said Japan will begin releasing around 36 million barrels, or 5.8 million kiloliters, of oil from state stockpiles on May 1, marking a second round of such releases. The crude, equivalent to about 20 days of consumption, is valued at 540 billion yen ($3.4 B).
Prices were set using the official selling prices fixed by oil-producing countries in February and applying changes in the average Brent crude price for February and March, Hosokawa said.
As with the first release, the oil will be supplied to four major oil refiners: ENEOS, Idemitsu Kosan, Cosmo and Taiyo Oil, from 10 national stockpile sites.
METI has said Japan secured alternative supplies equal to more than 20% of the previous year's volume for April, and more than half for May.
In late March, a tanker carrying Saudi crude arrived off Ehime prefecture in western Japan via a route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Hosokawa did not disclose how many vessels have taken alternative routes, but said others have since arrived.($1 = 159.7300 yen)
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