Russia sent its oil to Japan for the first time in two years. The local oil refining company Taiyo Oil Co. received 600,000 barrels of crude oil Sakhalin Blend from the tanker Voyager, which is on the US and EU sanctions lists, reported Bloomberg.
According to the agency, the tanker Voyager loaded at the Prigorodnoye terminal on Sakhalin Island on May 25 and arrived at the port of Kikuma in Japan on June 9.
As Bloomberg notes, this is the first such delivery in the past two years, highlighting the growing willingness of international buyers to engage in deals with Russian oil, despite the fact that the war in Ukraine has been ongoing for four years.
Japan can import Russian oil from the Far East for energy security reasons. This exception was included in the latest EU sanctions package and is valid until June 2026. A similar concession was made for Japan by the US, but it expires on June 28, although it is expected to be extended.
In Taiyo Oil Co. the fact of delivery was confirmed, noting that the company purchased crude oil at the request of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. The delivery is related to the ongoing Japan-backed liquefied natural gas (LNG) production project, within which oil and gas are simultaneously extracted. According to company representatives, without oil supplies, LNG production will suffer.
Despite the exceptions made for Japan, the fact that the country—a member of the "Group of Seven"—uses a blacklisted vessel for imports only underscores the course towards weakening the sanctions regime for Moscow, taken in the White House, the agency believes.
Since January 2025, at least 20 shipments of Russian oil have been delivered to China and Syria on board sanctioned vessels. In some cases, ships completed the final leg of their journey after transferring cargo from ship to ship, not subject to sanctions—a method increasingly used to circumvent sanctions.
Bloomberg also reports that Indian oil refining companies continue to import Russian oil without significant restrictions, despite previously undertaken commitments to comply with measures led by the US.