Japan to release oil reserves as early as Monday

Japan will release strategic oil reserves as early as Monday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, a unilateral move by the import-dependent Asian economy to ease concerns over rising fuel prices due to the Middle East war.Japan is the world’s fourth-largest economy and the fifth-biggest importer of crude oil, with about 95 per cent of its needs coming from the Middle East and around 70 per cent passing through the Strait of Hormuz before the conflict began.Tokyo has been working with other nations on a possible coordinated release of oil to offset rising global crude prices, but Takaichi said on Wednesday that Japan needed to act quickly to minimise their impact at home.“Without waiting for a formal decision on coordinated international stock releases with the IEA (International Energy Agency), Japan has decided to take the lead in easing supply and demand in the international energy market by releasing strategic reserves as early as the 16th of this month,” Takaichi told reporters.Japan’s Shibushi national oil storage station in Kagoshima Prefecture. Photo: KyodoThe country would release 15 days’ worth of private reserves and one month’s worth of national reserves, she said.Japan’s strategic oil reserves are among the world’s largest and stood at more than 400 million barrels as of December.