Japan sees no immediate impact on Mideast crude imports after 'sabotage attack': METI minister

Japan does not see immediate impact on its crude imports from the Middle East, following a "sabotage attack" carried out on two of Saudi Arabia's oil tankers off the coast of the eastern UAE port of Fujairah on Sunday, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko said Tuesday.

"We will closely monitor the situation," Seko said at a press conference in Tokyo. "We do not expect to see obstacles in Japan's crude procurement immediately."

Japan relies heavily on crude oil imports from the Middle East -- majority of which transits through the Strait of Hormuz. Middle Eastern supplies accounted for 89.6% of Japan's average crude imports of 3.19 million b/d in the first quarter of 2019, according to METI data.

Saudi Arabia has said two of its oil tankers were victims of a "sabotage attack" off the coast of the eastern UAE port of Fujairah on Sunday, while market sources identified the other vessels as UAE-flagged and Norwegian-flagged.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which resulted in no injuries or chemical spills, but were being treated as a "serious development," the UAE foreign affairs ministry said.

Saudi and Emirati officials did not identify any suspects or source of the attacks, but warned that further provocation could threaten maritime traffic and oil trade in the region.

Fujairah is one of the world's biggest bunkering hubs and lies just outside of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which 30% of the world's seaborne oil transits, giving it a strategic location for oil trading.