Overview
- Sources told Kyodo News on Thursday that Japan now expects to secure roughly the same crude import volume in July as it did a year earlier by shifting buying to non‑Middle Eastern suppliers.
- The government has cut Middle East inflows sharply because tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly halted, with some reporting about a 90 percent drop in volumes since before March.
- Japan began releasing emergency stocks at the end of March and is contributing about 80 million barrels to the IEA’s 400‑million‑barrel release to keep domestic refiners running.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the cabinet she has secured supplies through March 2028 and will present the government’s outlook at a ministerial meeting and press the G7 for safer sea lanes during an upcoming Europe visit.
- The shift raises near‑term relief for Japanese fuel supplies but keeps risks for households and industry if the Hormuz closure persists, so officials are watching alternative cargo flows and remaining reserve levels closely.