Japan plans to support alternative oil pipelines in the Middle East as it seeks to strengthen energy security following the Iran war, local media reported on Wednesday.
Before the conflict began in February, the world’s fourth-largest economy was heavily reliant on oil imports passing through the now-strangled Strait of Hormuz, reports AFP.
The Nikkei daily reported that Japan will support initiatives by Saudi Arabia and other countries to expand and build new routes for crude oil that bypass the waterway.
Japan has already tapped its oil reserves to address supply problems and increased crude imports from other countries, including the United States.
Other measures to be decided at a government meeting later on Wednesday include an initiative to establish a special crude oil reserve for producing naphtha, broadcaster NHK reported.
Naphtha is an oil by-product used in a wide range of industries.
The government is also expected to call for “maximising the use of nuclear power” and provide support for next-generation perovskite solar cells, NHK said.
Partly to meet a projected increase in power demand from artificial intelligence, Japan has already been moving to revive its nuclear power sector, 15 years after the Fukushima disaster.
