Page 11 - AsianOil Week 15 2022

AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil

Japan to release 15mn barrels of

crude from national reserves

POLICY THE government of Japan will soon release the back of another recent move to tap 7.5mn
15mn barrels of oil from its national reserves as barrels from private reserves between March 10
part of wider moves by member countries of the and early April.
International Energy Agency (IEA) to ease pres- According to METI, across the country Japan
sure on global crude markets. holds around 473mn barrels of oil reserves of all
Sources in the Japanese Ministry of Economy, grades – a number equal to almost eight months
Trade and Industry (METI) have confirmed the of daily consumption at current levels.
country’s planned release, which will come from These reserves are held in a range of storage
both state and private reserves. The volumes facilities, both state-owned and private, as well as
involved will rank second behind only the US under a multinational crude storage programme
in terms of individual country contributions to in oil-producing countries overseas.
the IEA’s 120mn barrel release target. They will Late last week also Japan sold 1.89mn barrels
consist of 9mn barrels from state reserves and of Saudi-Kuwait Hout crude by way of public
6mn barrels from private reserves. Japanese tender, according to sources familiar with the
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the national matter. This crude will be issued from reserves This will be the
broadcaster, NHK, that this will be the first pub- held on the island of Kyushu, with deliveries
licly declared release from state reserves since made to winning bidders in three shipments first publicly
those were set up at sites across the country in between May 20 and August 31.
the late 1970s. Similar low-key sales from the national oil declared release
There has long been speculation that some reserves were also launched using public tenders
reserves were released under emergency laws in on February 9, and then March 9. from state
the wake of the March 11, 2011, earthquake that February’s release saw 629,000 barrels of reserves since
devastated large areas of northern Japan, caused Omani crude released from Japanese reserves,
the Fukushima nuclear disaster and resulted in with 1.64mn barrels of primarily Khafji and those were set
months of lengthy power cuts in major cities Hout crudes following a month later.
such as Tokyo. In total, recent sales from national reserves up.
No specific date was initially given for Japan’s have amounted to 4.15mn barrels, according to
release, but METI subsequently said that the officials.
country would start releasing the 6mn barrels Crucially for lawmakers in Tokyo still hoping
from private reserves from April 16. to maintain investments in the Sakhalin oilfields
The announcements came shortly after the in Russia’s Far East, these sales do not run the
IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, declared that risk of breaking Japan’s strict stockpiling laws.
an agreement had been reached by IEA member The transactions were carried out by bringing
countries to release a combined 120mn barrels. forward already planned sales of crude due to be
Half of the total, or more than 60mn barrels, will replaced in national reserves as part of a longer-
be released from US reserves. term project to replace heavier grades of crude
Japan’s 15mn barrel release also comes on with lighter varieties.™

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