US EditionTokyo told national oil reserve site to prepare for release amid Iran crisis, Japan lawmaker says
Japan prepares its Shibushi oil reserve for potential crude release amid Middle East supply disruptions; it holds reserves covering 254 days of domestic consumption, officials said.
- Akira Nagatsuma, member of the Centrist Reform Alliance opposition party, told Reuters that a JOGMEC official at the Shibushi national oil storage base received a directive on Friday to prepare for a possible crude release amid the Iran crisis.
- Amid the Iran crisis, officials say Japan relies on the Middle East for around 95 per cent of its crude, with roughly 70 per cent transiting the Strait of Hormuz, now effectively closed.
- ANRE officials declined to comment and the Shibushi base was not available, while Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa said last week there were no plans to release reserves but the ministry monitors supplies closely with the IEA.
- It remains unclear whether other storage bases received the same instruction, while Tokyo last drew down oil reserves in 2022 in an International Energy Agency-led coordinated release.
- Japan's reserves equal 254 days of domestic consumption, including government stockpiles, private-sector inventories, and jointly held reserves with oil-producing countries.
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Why Japan holds the world's third-largest strategic oil reserve
Japan, one of the world’s largest oil importers, may release oil from national reserves as Middle East tensions threaten supply. Why is the country considering this move, and why does it rely so heavily on imported oil? Let's have a look.
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Japan Prepares Oil Reserve Release Amid Middle East Crisis
Japan is preparing for a possible release of oil reserves as the Iran crisis disrupts supplies. The government has instructed a national storage site to get ready, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Details on the release timing are unclear, pending further developments.
Reading time approx.: 1 minutes, 29 secondsThe action taken by Iran to close the Strait of Ormuz has struck the world oil trade and puts the world's economies in check: Japan and its strategy to escape... Throughout these days, Japan has always been closer to defending the U.S. attack on Iran than to condemn it. Its prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, was forceful in his stance and said: "It must be forbidden that Iran can have nuclear weapons. It i…
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