By Kantaro Komiya and Katya Golubkova
Tokyo — Japan plans to release 15 days’ worth of private-sector oil reserves and one month’s worth of state oil reserves, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday, ahead of the International Energy Agency (IEA)-led action.
To avoid disruption to petrol and other petroleum product supplies, Japan will tap its reserves in co-ordination with the Group of Seven (G7) and the IEA but will begin releasing them from March 16, she said.
“Rather than wait for formal IEA approval of a co-ordinated international reserve release, Japan will act first to ease global energy market supply and demand, releasing reserves as early as the 16th of this month,” Takaichi said in a broadcast statement.
The IEA is to recommend the release of 400-million barrels of oil, the largest such move in its history, to try to restrain soaring crude prices amid the US-Israeli war with Iran. Its recommendation was to be released later on Wednesday.
Japan is dependent on the Middle East for about 95% of its oil supplies.
The announcement comes as Iran’s military command said on Wednesday the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel, as three more ships came under attack in the blockaded Gulf amid ongoing conflict in Iran
“We will release 15 days of private sector reserves plus one month of national reserves, delivering them to domestic refiners as quickly as possible. We will also promptly utilise joint reserves held with oil-producing nations,” Takaichi said.
Japan holds emergency oil reserves equivalent to 254 days of consumption, comprising national stockpiles (146 days), private sector reserves (101 days) and joint stockpiles with producing countries (seven days).
Later on Wednesday, German economy minister Katherina Reiche said Germany would release part of its oil reserves after the IEA finalised its recommendation. She said the government would also limit petrol price increases.
She did not give an exact timing for those measures but added that the US and Japan would be the largest contributors to the release of the oil reserves.
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