Japan to tap national oil reserves for first time in IEA joint release

Japan plans to tap 9 million barrels of oil from national petroleum reserves as part of its contribution to the International Energy Agency's joint effort, a source at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said April 8, which would mark the country's first release from national reserves.

The country also plans to release 6 million barrels from privately-held oil reserves, giving it a total of 15 million barrels release for the IEA's largest ever stock release of 120 million barrels.

Japan's oil release from the country's national oil reserves will be the first under the country's petroleum stockpiling law since the reserves were established in 1978, the source said.

The latest IEA move comes after the US pledged in the week ended April 2 to tap 180 million barrels of oil, effectively releasing 1 million b/d for six months from May, in a bid to alleviate market concerns over potential shortages from a drop in Russian oil exports.

The IEA also clarified April 7 that over the next six months, around 240 million barrels of emergency oil stocks -- the equivalent of well over 1 million b/d -- will be made available to the global market.

That implies the total release would include the 62.7 million barrels announced by the IEA on March 9, 30 million barrels of which is coming from the US.

Japan also extended April 8 its previous release of 7.5 million barrels of crude and oil products from privately held petroleum reserves by six months, the source said.

The release of 7.5 million barrels of oil as part of the last IEA release, which had been expected to be completed during a 30-day period to April 8, was extended to Oct. 8 from April 9 in response to a recent request from the IEA amid the prolonged Ukraine war, the source said.

Japan's release of 7.5 million barrels of crude and oil products equates to four days of mandatory stockpile volumes. To do so, the country has allowed local refiners and oil products importers to lower their stockpiles.

Tender sales

Japan also sold April 8 an additional 300,000 kiloliters, or 1.89 million barrels, of Hout crude from its national petroleum reserves via a public tender, the source added. This was the last sale in its joint efforts with the US and other countries to stabilize oil prices.

In the latest tender, Japan offered up to three shipments of Hout crude from the Shirashima national oil reserves terminal in Kita Kyushu City in the southwest for delivery May 20-Aug. 31.

Following the sale of the Hout crude -- produced in the Saudi Arabia-Kuwait Neutral Zone -- Japan's crude sales from national oil reserves have amounted to a total of around 660,000 kiloliters, or 4.15 million barrels.

Japan sold March 9 260,000 kiloliters, or 1.64 million barrels, of Khafji and Hout crudes produced in the Neutral Zone from its national petroleum reserves via public tenders, after selling about 100,000 kiloliters, or 629,000 barrels, of Oman crude from the reserves via a Feb. 9 public tender.

Japan's serialized sales of national petroleum reserves was made by advancing its planned sales of crude for replacement in the national reserves without violating the country's petroleum stockpiling law.

In recent years, the country has been replacing medium and heavy crude stocks in the national petroleum reserves with lighter grades, reflecting the growing domestic demand for such products.

At end-January, Japan held a total of around 473.05 million barrels of petroleum reserves, equating to 236 days of domestic consumption, comprising national petroleum reserves, oil reserves held by the private sector and a joint crude oil storage program with oil-producing countries, according to METI data.

Crude stocks in the national oil reserves accounted for 285.99 million barrels of the total while oil products in the national reserves comprised another 8.99 million barrels.

Privately held crude reserves totaled 74.03 million barrels, with oil products stocks at 97.74 million barrels, while 6.29 million barrels were held by oil producers in Japan.