Japan has contacted crude oil suppliers in nations all over the world, including Nigeria, to make sure that Nigeria’s domestic supply stays stable as Japan looks for barrels outside of the Middle East because of the war in the region that has interrupted global supplies.
According to a briefing by Narumi Hosokawa, deputy director-general for immediate crisis management at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, the Asian country also expects to buy goods from Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, and Angola.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a cabinet meeting yesterday that Japan plans to discharge 20 days’ worth of oil reserves starting in May.
Takaichi claimed that it is releasing the new oil stockpile on its own and expects to get more than half of its oil imports by May through routes that do not go through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to customs data, Japan bought about 189,000 barrels of oil a day from the U.S. last May, which represented about 8% of its total crude oil purchases that month. U.S. officials have asked Japan to buy more.
Japan gets over 95% of its oil from the Middle East.
It started releasing reserves on March 16, both on its own and in collaboration with other countries, as part of a plan to make enough oil available for 50 days. The 20 days’ worth is extra.
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire in the conflict that started in late February. However, Iran has not lifted its near-total blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest interruption to global energy supply in history.
As of April 7, Japan’s reserves had enough oil for 228 days, with 143 days in its public stockpile. Takaichi claimed that the upcoming release would come from the public stockpile.
A METI report from yesterday said that the country is also getting oil from the U.S., its closest ally. The amount of oil it gets from the U.S. would be four times higher in May than it was a year ago.
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