Japan Imports Russian Crude On Sanctioned Tanker After Two-Year Halt

Japan has received a shipment of Russian crude oil for the first time in more than two years, and it arrived on a tanker sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.

Taiyo Oil Co., a Japanese refiner based in Tokyo, has taken delivery of 600,000 barrels of Sakhalin Blend crude from a vessel named Voyager, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The oil was loaded from the Prigorodnoye terminal, located at the southern tip of Russia’s Sakhalin Island, on May 25. The Voyager docked at the port of Kikuma in Japan on June 9 to unload the cargo.

The Voyager, previously known as the Vernadsky Prospect, is one of 161 tankers that were sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January 2024 under then-President Joe Biden.

The European Union blacklisted the same vessel in February as part of its sanctions on Russia.

Despite the sanctions, Japan has continued to receive waivers allowing the import of Sakhalin Blend crude on the grounds of national energy security. This waiver was extended in the EU’s 17th sanctions package on May 21 and remains valid until late June 2026. A separate US waiver, which permits similar activity, is set to expire on June 28, though it is generally extended as a matter of policy.

Taiyo Oil’s spokesperson confirmed the shipment and said the purchase was made at the request of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The spokesperson explained that a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project backed by Japan would have been impacted if the crude oil could not be transported, as both LNG and crude are extracted together in the same process.

METI has not responded to requests for comment on the matter.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Japanese refiners regularly imported crude oil from the Sakhalin 2 project, averaging around four shipments per month. However, these imports came to a halt after the war began, even though Japanese firms Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corporation kept their stakes of 12.5% and 10% respectively in the project when Russia created a new ownership structure later in 2022.

Since then, many oil buyers have avoided Russian crude transported on sanctioned ships, leaving some tankers idle for months. However, this reluctance appears to be fading, especially since Donald Trump returned to power in the United States. Industry analysts say this shift could reflect a willingness to keep Russian oil flowing in global markets.

For instance, India has continued receiving Russian oil with few restrictions, despite previously expressing support for US sanctions. Similarly, at least 20 shipments of Russian crude have been delivered to buyers in China and Syria since late January using OFAC-sanctioned tankers. In many other cases, sanctioned ships are used for part of the journey, after which the crude is transferred to non-sanctioned vessels for the final leg.

The EU has accused Sovcomflot, Russia’s state-owned shipping company, of trying to bypass sanctions by transferring management of some tankers, including the Voyager, to companies based in the United Arab Emirates.

Reference: Bloomberg

Source: Maritime Shipping News