Toutiao.com March 12 report: According to Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" website on March 12, Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto Asako announced on the 11th that due to the worsening situation in Iran, Japan will release its oil reserves starting from the 16th. The plan is to first release 15 days' worth of private reserves, followed by one month's worth of national reserves. According to the report, this is the first time Japan has unilaterally released its national oil reserves. This move is extremely rare as Japan took individual action before the International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries reached a consensus on coordinated releases.
This is the first time Japan has released oil reserves in about four years since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. At that time, the action was part of an IEA coordinated release. Japan's history of unilaterally releasing private reserves dates back to the second oil crisis in 1978-1979, and it also did so after the 2011 East Japan earthquake.
According to data from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan's total oil reserves can last for 254 days by the end of 2025. The government plans to first lower the statutory reserve standard for private enterprises from 101 days, thus releasing 15 days' worth of oil supply to the market; currently, the national reserves have 146 days' worth, which will be released through a joint supply agreement for one month (30 days). In addition, Japan will also use the "joint reserves" (7 days' worth) in cooperation with oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Currently, Japan relies on Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia for 94% of its crude oil imports. With the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for about one-third of exports, having been effectively blocked for more than 10 days, concerns about the stability of Japan's energy supply are increasingly intensifying.
Hashimoto Asako explained, "It is expected that our crude oil imports will significantly decrease from the latter half of this month." She emphasized that she would maintain cooperation with the Group of Seven (G7) and the IEA to ensure that petroleum products such as gasoline are not affected. She also stated, "Before the international community makes an official decision on releasing reserves, our country will take the initiative to act in order to ease the supply and demand pressure in the international energy market."
From March 9 to 10, G7 finance ministers and energy ministers held consecutive video conferences to discuss the issue of coordinated release of oil reserves by IEA member countries. However, the joint statement from the finance ministers only remained at a consistent position of "preparing to take necessary measures." Analysts believe that this reflects a noticeable difference between Western countries with low dependence on the Middle East and Asian countries with high dependence on the region. (Translation/Chen Rui)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7616216721624187426/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.