Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

Idemitsu Kosan President Noriaki Sakai confirmed on the 18th that the company has begun transporting Saudi Arabian crude oil via a detour route through Suez, as passage through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has become difficult. Previously, shipments arrived in Japan in about 20 days, but the new route is said to take 50 to 60 days. While acknowledging higher costs, Sakai stressed, "We are confident that we can properly procure what is needed. There will be no major disruption on the procurement front." Idemitsu has not disclosed details of the alternative route, but supplier Saudi Aramco has since July been increasing supplies on a route from the Saudi port of Yanbu northward through the Red Sea, across the Mediterranean, and around the Cape of Good Hope. Sakai also said the company will expand use of North American crude, but he was negative about sharply reducing dependence on the Middle East, pointing out that Japanese refineries are equipped to process Middle Eastern crude, and that significantly increasing imports of US crude with different properties would require investment in refining facility upgrades. Regarding the 500 million dollar investment in MidOcean Energy, a British LNG business under US investment firm EIG announced in March, he said LNG was an important missing piece in the business portfolio and indicated a policy of entering the LNG sales business mainly in Japan. He also explained that there is interest from companies other than automakers in the commercialization of solid electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries being pursued jointly with Toyota Motor, and expressed a view that advances in drones and robots such as humanoids will drive replacement with solid-state batteries.