WORLD
FIRST ES-OIL-LADEN TANKER LEAVES PORT OF KOZMINO, BOUND FOR JAPAN
Baku, February 26 (AZERTAC). Russia will export East Siberian crude oil to Japan for the first time, with a tanker scheduled to set sail Friday, Kyodo News International reports.
The tanker, which will leave the port of Kozmino near the Russian city of Nakhodka, will dock at the Keiyo Sea Berth in Tokyo Bay in early March, the sources said.
The 100,000 tons of oil, whose bid was won by trading house Mitsui & Co. from Russian oil firm TNK-BP, was purchased by Kyokuto Petroleum Industries Ltd., the Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture-based refiner jointly owned by ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Y.K. and Mitsui Oil Co.
East Siberian crude offers an advantage over a range of Middle East crude due to its lower transportation costs stemming from the geographical proximity of the Kozmino port to Japan. Although Mideast oil takes two to three weeks to be delivered to Japan, the Siberian oil takes only two to three days.
If Japan can procure East Siberian crude in a stable manner in the coming years, it would enable it to diversify sources of its oil needs and save transportation costs. Japan currently depends on the Middle East for 90 percent of its oil needs.