Japan to receive first Mexican crude cargo since start of Iran war
A car moves out from a Cosmo Energy Holdings' Cosmo Oil service station in Tokyo, Japan, December 16, 2015. Picture taken December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino
TOKYO, July 15 : A tanker carrying Mexican crude oil for Japan's Cosmo Oil, a unit of Cosmo Energy, is expected to arrive in the country as early as Friday, Japan's industry ministry said on Wednesday, providing an alternative to Middle Eastern supplies.
This would mark the first arrival of Mexican crude in Japan since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said in a statement.
• The tanker is expected to arrive at the Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan as early as Friday, before proceeding to the Chiba refinery near Tokyo.
• It travelled from the Gulf of Mexico via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.
• In April, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed in a telephone call to enhance energy cooperation as the Iran war disrupted global oil and gas supplies.