TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) – A senior member of the Japanese parliament announced on Sunday that the government has asked a national oil reserve facility to get ready for a potential crude oil release due to supply disruptions linked to the Iran crisis.
Japan gets about 95% of its crude oil from the Middle East, with around 70% transported through the Strait of Hormuz, which is currently facing disruptions caused by U.S. and Israeli actions against Iran.
Akira Nagatsuma, a member of the Centrist Reform Alliance opposition party, told Reuters that an official from the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) at the Shibushi oil storage site confirmed they received instructions from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) last Friday.
Nagatsuma mentioned that details about when a release might happen are still unclear.
It is not yet known if other storage facilities have received similar instructions.
An official from ANRE, which operates under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), declined to comment. The Shibushi site was also unavailable for comments, and JOGMEC could not be contacted outside working hours.
The Shibushi facility, located in southern Japan, is one of the key sites for storing the country’s strategic oil reserves.
Japan's emergency oil reserves amount to the equivalent of 254 days of domestic use, making it one of the largest reserves in the world. These reserves include government stocks, private inventories, and jointly held reserves with oil-producing nations.
The last time Tokyo used oil from its reserves was in 2022, as part of a coordinated release led by the International Energy Agency (IEA) following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa stated early last week that there were no specific plans to tap into the oil reserves, but the ministry would keep a close watch on the supply situation in collaboration with the IEA.
According to the Kyodo news agency, the Japanese government is contemplating using a portion of its national oil reserves due to the ongoing Iran crisis, which has affected global energy supplies. This action may happen in tandem with other countries or independently.