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Canadian Province Alberta Seeks to Become Bigger Oil Supplier to Japan

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Canada's main oil-producing province, Alberta, is in discussions with Japan about potentially sending more crude oil to the Asian country to diversify its supply away from the Middle East in light of the disruption caused by the Iran war, Reuters reported on Monday.

Alberta's Energy Ministry Brian Jean told Reuters in an interview that the province has offered to help fund construction of a coker unit so that one or several Japanese companies can process heavy crude extracted from Alberta's oil sands.

The province is also looking into the idea of mixing Alberta heavy crude with a lighter, synthetic oil to produce a blend that fits the needs of Japanese refineries more closely, Jean said, days after his return from face-to-face talks with government officials and energy executives in Japan.

Japan obtains about 95% of its crude oil from the Middle East, Reuters said, leaving it fully exposed when conflict erupted and Iran closed for more than three months the sole waterway to exit the Persian Gulf with energy cargoes.

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Commodities

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