JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. and Idemitsu Kosan Co. will load about 1.7 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on the very large tanker, Ryuho Maru, at Iran's Kharg Island on about July 20, three officials from the refiners and Japan’s Trade Ministry told Bloomberg on Friday.
The crude carrier, owned by Iino Kaiun Kaisha Ltd. will be backed by the Japanese state, they said on the condition of anonymity.
The Kharg oil terminal, the country’s biggest oil-export terminal, is currently handling about 98 percent of Iran's crude exports and the island has more than 40 storage facilities capable of holding a total amount of 22 million barrels of crude oil.
On June 20, in a move to counter EU insurance bans against Iran, Japan’s parliament endorsed a bill to provide USD 7.6 billion of guarantees to ship owners that transfer Iranian crude oil.
On January 23, under pressure from the United States, the EU foreign ministers approved new sanctions against Tehran. The sanctions, which prevent all the EU member states from purchasing Iran's oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1.
Japan, which imported nine percent of its oil from Iran in 2011, did not cease the purchase of the Islamic Republic’s crude over concerns regarding the likelihood of a surge in the imported oil prices and its subsequent negative effects on Japan's economic development.
The US and the EU have imposed tough financial sanctions as well as oil embargoes against Iran since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country's nuclear energy program includes a military component.
Tehran refutes such allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program toward military purposes.
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