JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. plans to diversity its crude oil procurement to reduce its dependence on the Middle East amid intensifying tensions in the region, Katsuyuki Ota, president of the major Japanese oil wholesaler, has said in a recent interview.
The company is now working to expand its procurement of crude oil from the United States and Russia's Far East region, he said.

Ota said that JXTG Nippon Oil started to increasingly see the need to diversify its oil procurement in the wake of the attacks on crude oil facilities in Saudi Arabia in September 2019.

Still, Ota stressed that the Middle East will continue to be a major source of crude oil for the firm, noting that oil from the region "is overwhelmingly dominant in terms of volume and economic efficiency."

Although JXTG Nippon Oil does not disclose detailed data on its crude oil procurement, Middle East crude oil is estimated to account for over 80 pct of its overall crude oil imports.

The company is expected to consider a plan to expand its crude oil procurement from regions, including Oman, a route that does not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a key crude oil shipping lane with high geopolitical risks.

JIJI Press