Japan Begins Unilateral Oil Reserve Release Amid Iran Crisis

TOKYO, March 16 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japan began to release oil from its reserves Monday to alleviate supply concerns that have grown amid the US-Israel war with Iran and stabilise the distribution of petroleum products, Kyodo News reported.

In its first such move since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Japan is initially releasing 15 days' worth of reserves held by the private sector, with a month's worth of state-held oil to follow.

The release by Japan for its domestic market comes ahead of a planned coordinated release by the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency, including Japan.

The Japanese government will reduce the mandatory 70-day reserve requirement for oil refiners and trading companies under Japan's oil stockpiling law to 55 days' worth, allowing them to draw down their existing stocks for use.

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the government's plans to release about 80 million barrels of oil, the largest ever, equivalent to 45 days' worth of domestic consumption and 1.8 times the amount released after the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that devastated Japan's northeast.

Preparations are under way to sell oil in government-held reserves to wholesalers.

As of the end of 2025, Japan held reserves of approximately 470 million barrels of oil, equivalent to 254 days of domestic consumption, of which 146 days' worth were government-owned, 101 days were held by the private sector, and the remainder were jointly stored by oil-producing countries.

It is the seventh time that Japan's oil reserves have been tapped since the reserve system began in the 1970s.

Japan imports more than 90 per cent of its crude oil from the Middle East, making it highly vulnerable to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has prevented the transportation of oil and gas from suppliers in the Persian Gulf, causing sharp rises in crude oil prices since the start of the war in the Middle East on Feb 28.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU