Japan turns to Canadian crude as Asia feels Hormuz supply pinch

The first shipment of Canadian crude oil since 2025 is headed to Japan on a ship chartered by Exxon Mobil, according to data released by tracking firm Kpler.

The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, Freedom Glory, which can carry up to 750,000 barrels of crude, left Vancouver on Wednesday, loaded with Trans Mountain pipeline (TMX) crude.

The latest oil shipment from TMX Canada was bought by Japan’s largest refiner Eneos, according to Kpler.

On Thursday, Tokyo cut its growth forecast for this year to 0.9 percent from 1.3 percent as a result of higher oil prices.

Up until the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in February, it had been importing more than 90 percent of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, Japan is among several Asian countries urgently attempting to diversify their suppliers, after the war choked oil shipments through Hormuz.

The Trans Mountain pipeline carries up to 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada’s Alberta to a marine terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia.

The pipeline is owned by the federal government, and has been running at almost 90 percent capacity since the third quarter of 2025.

Exports via TMX to Asia accounted for nearly 77 percent of total oil exports from Vancouver this year, compared with about 51 percent in ⁠2024.

India, Malaysia and Singapore have all returned to buying crude shipped via TMX since the war on Iran, while Canadian oil accounts for nearly 60 percent of US crude oil imports, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he does not intend to use Canada’s oil as leverage in talks with Washington, despite the administration of US President Donald Trump announcing new tariffs on Canadian products last week.

“Canadians can be trusted. And so, when you’re a supplier of a key commodity… you gotta think really hard about not supplying,” Carney replied when asked whether he would use Canada’s oil as a pressure tactic.