Middle East attack jolts oil-import dependent Asia
The blasts detonated far from the bustling megacities of
Asia, but the attack this week on two tankers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz
hits at the heart of the region’s oil import-dependent economies.
While the violence only directly jolted two countries in the
region — one of the targeted ships was operated by a Tokyo-based company, a
nearby South Korean-operated vessel helped rescue sailors — it will unnerve
major economies throughout Asia.
Officials, analysts and media commentators on Friday
hammered home the importance of the Strait of Hormuz for Asia, calling it a
crucial lifeline, and there was deep interest in more details about the
still-sketchy attack and what the United States and Iran would do in the
aftermath.
In the end, whether Asia shrugs it off, as some analysts
predict, or its economies shudder as a result, the attack highlights the
widespread worries over an extreme reliance on a single strip of water for the
oil that fuels much of the region’s shared progress.
Here is a look at how Asia is handling rising tensions in a
faraway but economically crucial area, compiled by AP reporters from around the
world:
WHY ASIA WORRIES
The oil, of course.
Japan, South Korea and China don’t have enough of it; the
Middle East does, and much of it flows through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
This could make Asia vulnerable to supply disruptions from US-Iran
tensions or violence in the strait.
The attack comes months after Iran threatened to shut down
the strait to retaliate against US economic sanctions, which tightened in April
when the Trump administration decided to end sanctions exemptions for the five
biggest importers of Iranian oil, which included China and US allies South
Korea and Japan.
Japan is the world’s fourth-largest consumer of oil — after
the United States, China and India — and relies on the Middle East for 80% of
its crude oil supply. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster led to a dramatic
reduction in Japanese nuclear power generation and increased imports of natural
gas, crude oil, fuel oil and coal.
In an effort to comply with Washington, Japan says it no
longer imports oil from Iran. Officials also say Japanese oil companies are
abiding by the embargo because they don’t want to be sanctioned. But Japan
still gets oil from other Middle East nations using the Strait of Hormuz for
transport.
South Korea, the world’s fifth largest importer of crude
oil, also depends on the Middle East for the vast majority of its supplies.
Last month, South Korea halted its Iranian oil imports as
its waivers from US sanctions on Tehran expired, and it has reportedly tried
to increase oil imports from other countries such as Qatar and the United
States.
China, the world’s largest importer of Iranian oil,
“understands its growth model is vulnerable to a lack of energy sovereignty,”
according to market analyst Kyle Rodda of IG, an online trading provider, and
has been working over the last several years to diversify its suppliers. That
includes looking to Southeast Asia and, increasingly, some oil-producing
nations in Africa.
THE GEOGRAPHY AND THE POLITICS
Asia and the Middle East are linked by a flow of oil, much
of it coming by sea and dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, which is the passage
between the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Iran threatened to close the strait in April. It also
appears poised to break a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that US
President Donald Trump withdrew from last year. The deal saw Tehran agree to
limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling
sanctions.
For both Japan and South Korea, there is extreme political
unease to go along with the economic worries stirred by the violence in the
strait.
Both nations want to nurture their relationship with
Washington, a major trading partner and military protector. But they also need
to keep their economies humming, which requires an easing of tension between
Washington and Tehran.
Japan’s conservative prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was in
Tehran, looking to do just that, when the attack happened.
His limitations in settling the simmering animosity,
however, were highlighted by both the timing of the attack and a comment by
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who told Abe that he had nothing
to say to Trump.
In Japan, the world’s third largest economy, the tanker
attack was front-page news.
The Nikkei newspaper, Japan’s major business daily, said
that if mines are planted in the Strait of Hormuz, “oil trade will be paralyzed.”
The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper called the Strait of Hormuz Japan’s “lifeline.”
Although the Japanese economy and industry minister has said
there will be no immediate effect on stable energy supplies, the Tokyo Shimbun
noted “a possibility that Japanese people’s lives will be affected.”
South Korea, worried about Middle East instability, has
worked to diversify its crude sources since the energy crises of the 1970s and
1980s.
THE FUTURE
Analysts said it’s highly unlikely that Iran would follow
through on its threat to close the strait. That’s because a closure could also
disrupt Iran’s exports to China, which has been working with Russia to build
pipelines and other infrastructure that would transport oil and gas into China.
For Japan, the attack in the Strait of Hormuz does not
represent an imminent threat to Tokyo’s oil supply, said Paul Sheldon, chief
geopolitical adviser at S&P Global Platts Analytics.
“Our sense is that it’s not a crisis yet,” he said of the
tensions.
Seoul, meanwhile, will likely be able to withstand a modest
jump in oil prices unless there’s a full-blown military confrontation, Seo
Sang-young, an analyst from Seoul-based Kiwoom Securities, said.
“The rise in crude prices could hurt areas like the
airlines, chemicals and shipping, but it could also actually benefit some
businesses, such as energy companies (including refineries) that produce and
export fuel products like gasoline,” said Seo, pointing to the diversity of
South Korea’s industrial lineup. South Korea’s shipbuilding industry could also
benefit as the rise in oil prices could further boost the growing demand for
liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which means more orders for giant tankers that
transport such gas.