Japan's Top Oil Refiner Eyes a Post-Hormuz Future

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Japan's largest oil refiner, Eneos Holdings, plans to diversify its crude oil supply away from the Middle East following disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz. Historically reliant on Middle Eastern imports for 95% of its crude, Eneos aims to reduce this dependence amid regional instability.

Japan’s biggest oil refiner, Eneos Holdings, will likely move to diversify its crude supply from a heavy dependence on the Middle East in the wake of the shock disruption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the company’s chief financial officer, Soichiro Tanaka, told Reuters in an interview published on Friday. Before the Iran war, Japan and its refiners relied on the Middle East for a massive 95% of all crude imports. But the shock loss of supply forced refiners to seek alternatives and the government to release oil from strategic…