Eneos and Idemitsu Pay $38 Premiums for Oman Crude as Saudi Pipeline Stays Shut
Japan's two biggest refiners secured October cargoes at up to $38 a barrel over Dubai as competition for Hormuz-bypass grades intensifies.
Eneos Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan recently bought Oman crude for loading as early as October at premiums of as much as $38 a barrel to the Dubai benchmark, according to traders cited by Rigzone, as the shutdown of a key Saudi oil pipeline pushed Japan's major refiners to compete directly with Indian and Chinese buyers for bypass-route barrels.7
The pipeline runs from Saudi Arabia's production areas near the Persian Gulf to export terminals on the Red Sea, with a capacity of about 7 million barrels per day, CNBC reported. Reuters estimated the loss threatens up to 4% of global oil supply. With the Strait of Hormuz simultaneously under wartime disruption, both the main and the alternative Saudi export routes are now compromised, erasing the redundancy Japanese refiners had relied on.6
ICE Brent crude front-month surged more than 3% at market open on Monday (2026-09-07), crossing $108 a barrel during the session, after fresh attacks on Saudi Arabia and Gulf shipping compounded the pipeline news, Reuters reported. NYMEX WTI front-month rose $2.27, or 2.27%, to $102.32 that day. Those moves extended an 8% gain from the week of 2026-08-31 that had already pushed Brent above $100 for the first time since July. By Saturday (2026-09-19), ICE Brent crude front-month stood at $103.37, well below the intraday spike, while Dubai crude held at $116.35 — a spread of nearly $13 in Dubai's favour that reflects how tightly Asian buyers are pricing Gulf bypass grades.6
Oman crude exports from Mina Al Fahal lie on the Gulf of Oman coast, outside the strait. That geography is why the grade draws a premium when Hormuz is contested. Rigzone reported that the Eneos and Idemitsu purchases comprised two cargoes of 2 million barrels each, though the full scope of Japanese buying in the market remained unclear.7
Japan is not buying alone. Rigzone reported on 2026-09-03 that refiners in India and China were bidding aggressively for spot Persian Gulf cargoes, driving Middle Eastern differentials higher. Abu Dhabi's Murban grade was commanding a premium of more than $30 a barrel to Dubai for delivery to East Asia, according to traders, competing for the same bypass-route pool that Japanese refiners are chasing.5
The Strait of Hormuz carried an average of 21 million barrels per day in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Guardian reported the Iran war blockade was approaching the 11-week mark as of 2026-05-21, with the waterway previously handling about 20% of global oil and seaborne gas flows. The pipeline shutdown adds a second layer of constraint to an already throttled transit corridor.3,1
The UAE is expanding its own bypass capacity. The government announced on 2026-05-15 an acceleration of a new pipeline to double export capacity through Fujairah by 2027, augmenting the existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline — known as ADCOP or the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline — which can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day to the Gulf of Oman coast, Zawya reported. ADNOC is targeting 5 million barrels per day of total capacity by next year, a goal brought forward by three years.2
Saudi Arabia had also built its own bypass before the shutdown. Aramco reportedly ramped the pipeline's capacity to 7 million barrels per day in eight days at an earlier point in the conflict, keeping about 60% of Saudi pre-war exports flowing while it operated. Its loss returns Saudi crude fully onto Hormuz-dependent routes.2
Japan's economy ministry was already seeking longer-term solutions. Bloomberg reported in late July (2026-07-28) that Japan planned to invest in overseas pipeline projects in the Middle East to reduce Hormuz exposure, citing an internal government document. The scale of premiums Eneos and Idemitsu paid signals how wide the gap remains between that policy ambition and what is available in the spot market now.4,7
June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities SA, told Bloomberg that the duration of the shutdown is now the main market focus. With Dubai crude at $116.35 a barrel as of 2026-09-19 and ICE Brent crude front-month nearly $13 lower, every additional week the Saudi pipeline stays offline is another week Japanese refiners must choose between paying the bypass premium or running their October programmes short.6,7