Japan will release another part of its strategic oil reserves from Thursday and will tap into joint stockpiles held by producing nations in the country by the end of the month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday.
“In order to secure the necessary amount for the whole of Japan … we will release the state (oil) reserve from 26th March,” she said in a post on X.
“Furthermore, a release from the joint reserve of oil-producing countries is expected to begin in March,” Takaichi added.
The announcement comes after Tokyo started releasing 15 days’ worth of private-sector petroleum reserves last week.
Takaichi previously said that a month’s worth of government stockpiles would also be released.
Japan depends on the Middle East for 95 percent of its oil imports.
Its strategic oil reserves are among the world’s largest and stood at more than 400 million barrels as of December.
A joint reserve is held in the country by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to the Petroleum Association of Japan.
Under normal circumstances, the jointly stored crude is commercially used, but in the event of an emergency, Japanese oil companies have preferential purchasing rights.
Japan is also seeking to procure oil from ports in Saudi Arabia and the UAE through routes that do “not pass through the Strait of Hormuz” and by expanding purchases from the United States, economy minister Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Tuesday.
Members of the International Energy Agency agreed on March 11 to tap oil stockpiles to cushion the surge in prices caused by the war in the Middle East — by far the largest-ever response of its kind.
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