The Japanese government inked deals with two domestic shipping companies earlier this week to provide insurance cover for the country’s two super tankers, which are to transfer a total of three million barrels of Iranian crude by the end of July, Japanese Industry and government sources told Reuters on Friday.
On June 20, in a move to counter the US-led EU insurance bans against Iran, Japan’s parliament endorsed a bill to provide USD 7.6 billion in 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 some 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, refused to 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.
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Japan has reportedly loaded its first self-insured shipment of Iranian crude oil on two Japanese tankers following the implementation of a US-engineered European Union (EU) oil embargo against Tehran.
News ID 182243
