Tokyo told national oil reserve site to prepare for release amid Iran crisis, lawmaker says

A senior Japanese parliament member said on Sunday that the government instructed a national oil reserve storage site to prepare for a possible release of crude, as the Iran crisis has cut supply from the Middle East.

Japan relies on the Middle East for around 95% of its crude supplies, with roughly 70% shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which ​has been effectively closed following U.S. and Israeli attacks on 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 national oil storage base said it had received the directive from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) on Friday.

Details such as the timing of the release remain unclear, Nagatsuma said. It was not immediately clear if any other storage bases received the same instruction.

An official at ANRE, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), declined to comment. The Shibushi base was not immediately available for comment, while JOGMEC could not be reached outside office hours.

The Shibushi site in southern Japan is one of the locations where the country's strategic oil stocks are stored. Japan holds emergency oil reserves equivalent to 254 days of domestic consumption - among the world's largest - including government-owned stockpiles, private-sector inventories, and jointly held reserves with oil-producing countries.

Tokyo last drew down oil from its reserves in 2022 as part of an International Energy Agency (IEA)-led coordinated release following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa said early last week that there were no specific plans to release oil reserves, but the ministry would continue to monitor the crude oil supply situation closely, working in coordination with the IEA.

Kyodo News Agency reported on Friday that the Japanese government is considering using part of its national oil reserves amid the ongoing Iran crisis that has disrupted global energy supplies and may do so in coordination with other countries or even on its own.