Hormuz crisis has forced Japan into rethinking – and domesticating – its energy security needs

Japan's Foreign Minister has made nine phone calls to his Iranian counterpart since March over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries 93% of Japan's crude imports.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government unveiled POWERR GX, a package that includes a state reinsurance mechanism for shipping insurance, expanded crude and naphtha reserves, and financing for Gulf pipeline projects in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that bypass Hormuz.

The measures reduce but do not eliminate exposure: expanded Gulf pipeline capacity would cover only a fraction of the roughly 20 million barrels a day that normally transit the strait, and one of the relevant terminals has already come under attack during the ongoing conflict.

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