Japan will find it difficult to follow the EU and impose an embargo on Russian oil and oil products, the country's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda said yesterday.The comments came after the US president said he would discuss further sanctions on Russia with other G7 members. Last month, the US itself banned imports of all Russian oil and oil products.Earlier this week, the European Commission, proposed a six-month phase-out of Russian oil imports, with a year-end deadline for petroleum products.Koichi Hagiuda, on the sidelines of a visit to the United States, where he asked Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to increase US LNG supplies to the US, admitted that Japan's resources are limited, and the country would face some difficulties if it agreed to a Russian oil embargo.According to Reuters, Russian oil accounts for just 4% of Japan's total oil imports. In this light, Hagiuda's comment basically assumes that Japan cannot find an alternative supplier to replace that 4%, at least not quickly. By comparison, the EU imports around 26% of its crude oil from Russia.
Earlier this year, amid a mass outflow of Western business from Russia, Japan said it would not abandon oil and gas projects in the country, where it is a minority shareholder.Japan is a shareholder in Novatek's Arctic LNG-2 project, as well as in the Sakhalin-2 LNG project, which Shell withdrew from earlier this year. The country is also involved in the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 oil projects.
