Japan Plans to Continue Oil Reserve Release for Three Months
Posted on: Friday, 4 November 2005, 03:00 CST
Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo
Tokyo, 4 November: Japan is planning to extend the release of oil reserves held by the private sector for another three months in a concerted action by the International Energy Agency [IEA], as the current discharge period is set to expire Saturday [5 November], Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said Friday.
"We have to deter sharp oil price hikes as much as we can. I've heard it is appropriate to extend the measure for another three months," Nikai told a press conference.
In a joint action of 26 IEA members, since 7 September Japan has lowered its normal 70-day minimum stockpile levels among 66 private- sector oil companies by three days to 67 in a bid to increase supplies to the market.
The Paris-based energy watchdog announced on 2 September that its members would release a total of 60m barrels from their strategic oil reserves after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged oil production facilities along the US Gulf Coast.
On 20 October, the IEA Governing Board reviewed its initial collective response, which was supposed to be concluded in 30 days, and decided that members should allow volumes of crude oil and oil products to remain available to the market because the 60 million barrel release goal had not been fulfilled at that point.
The IEA then said it was prepared to take additional coordinated action to address possible future shortages in crude oil and oil products following further damage by Hurricane Rita and in consideration of the heating requirements of the upcoming season in the northern hemisphere.
Japan was allocated to handle 12.2 per cent, or 7.32m barrels, of the IEA's total 60m barrel release. In the first 30-day period, the country's private sector released about 10m barrels of oil, fulfilling the requirement of the joint international action.
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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