Eneos Endeavour Clears Hormuz With 1.9 Million Barrels as Japan Seeks Relief From Oil Squeeze
Updated
Updated · OilPrice.com · May 14
Eneos Endeavour Clears Hormuz With 1.9 Million Barrels as Japan Seeks Relief From Oil Squeeze
2 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · May 14
LSEG and Kpler data showed the Eneos Endeavour carried 1.9 million barrels of crude through the Strait of Hormuz to Japan, only the second Japan-bound tanker to clear the chokepoint since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
The cargo comprised 1.2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude and 700,000 barrels of Emirati crude, and the vessel switched off its transponder while transiting — a tactic increasingly used in the Gulf to avoid detection and possible attack.
That passage offers limited relief for Japan, which gets about 95% of its refinery feedstock from the Middle East and typically receives roughly 70% of those supplies via Hormuz.
Traffic through the strait remains heavily disrupted: three supertankers carrying Iraqi and Emirati crude exited last week with transponders off, but 42 container ships are still stuck, nine have cleared, and two were seized by Iranian authorities.
With its energy lifeline squeezed, must Japan choose between its US alliance and Iranian oil?
Beyond oil prices, how is the Hormuz blockade crippling global food and green energy supply chains?
As Hormuz becomes a tollbooth, what is the price of passage for nations desperate for oil?