Japan slashes Middle East oil reliance as US, Azerbaijan boost exports

Japan increased its crude oil imports by nearly 6% in June compared with the same month in 2025, while reducing its dependence on Middle Eastern supplies to 62.3%, according to the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Japan's reliance on oil imports from the Middle East fell by 11.6 percentage points from May, with the decline offset by increased shipments from other regions, TASS reports.

The United States accounted for more than 32% of Japan's oil imports in June, an increase of almost 10 percentage points compared with the previous month.

Japan previously sourced more than 90% of its oil from the Middle East, but those imports have fallen significantly, primarily due to disruptions affecting supplies from the Strait of Hormuz.

As a result, Japan began importing crude oil from the United States for the first time in April. Since May, it has also started receiving oil from Azerbaijan, South Sudan and Russia's Sakhalin region.

By Jeyhun Aghazada