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Japan backs overseas oil pipeline plans to reduce Strait of Hormuz risk

Japan previously sourced 95% of its crude imports from the Middle East, and energy imports fell 67.2% in April year over year as flows through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Energy

Japan is planning to invest in overseas oil pipeline projects, aiming to diversify crude export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz, according to OilPrice, citing a document from Japan’s economy ministry.

The investment would be carried out by Japanese companies using risk capital funding, OilPrice reported, following earlier media coverage that Saudi Arabia and the UAE asked Japan to participate in expanding Middle East pipeline networks.

Before the Iran war, Japan and its refiners relied on the Middle East for 95% of all crude imports, but supply shocks drove refiners to seek alternatives and led the government to release oil from strategic reserves to offset reduced flows through the strait.

OilPrice said Japan’s energy imports from the Middle East plummeted 67.2% in April versus the same month of 2025, with April 2026 crude volume estimated at 3.843 million kiloliters, the lowest since data collection began in 1979. It added that Japan’s total oil import bill rose to a record $89.46 billion in June, even though June oil import volumes were 13.7% lower than a year earlier.

Latest closeWTI crude $81.92 ▼8.3%

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