There have been talks with Saudi Arabia and other oil producers about possible purchases by JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., Japan's largest refiner by capacity, in case of a ban on Iranian crude imports, a JX spokesman said today.
JX Holdings Inc. currently buys 90,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Iran, the JX spokesman said. There has been no mention on the responses from Saudi and the other producers.
Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, headed to Asia at the weekend to seek support from China and Japan on boosting financial pressure on Iran in an effort to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
Japan is vulnerable to any energy supply disruption in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, remaining reluctant to halt crude imports from the Middle Eastern country.
In late December, JX Energy's Senior Vice President Tsutomu Sugimori said he hoped that the U.S. will treat Japan as an exception as only Saudi Arabia could replace crude supplies from Iran.
Nearly 300,000 barrels a day, 10% of its total crude imports, are imported from Iran to Japan.
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