Japan agreed with the United States to purchase Russian oil at a price higher than the limit previously set by the G7 countries. This is reported by the Wall Street Journal.
According to journalists, Japan has asked the United States to allow it to buy oil from Russia at a price above $60 per barrel. This is due to the country's need for Russian energy resources. The US government met Tokyo halfway.
In the first two months of 2023, Japan bought about 748,000 barrels of Russian oil for a total of 6.9 billion yen (about $52 million). Accordingly, the price per barrel was slightly less than $70.
Over the past year, Japan has also increased its purchases of natural gas from Russia. Analysts speaking to the WSJ said that this shows Japan's dependence on Russia for fossil fuel supplies and contributes to «Tokyo's hesitation about more fully supporting Ukraine in the war.»
The price limit for Russian oil at $60 per barrel, introduced by the countries of the European Union, the G7 and Australia, came into force on December 5, 2022. A few months after that, the European Union introduced similar restrictions on petroleum products — for example, the maximum price for a barrel of light oil products will be $100, and for a barrel of dark oil — $40.