Nigeria’s revenue is about to receive a boost as Japan has contacted crude oil suppliers in countries across the world, including Nigeria, to ensure a stable domestic supply while searching for non-Middle East barrels amid conflict in the region that has disrupted global supply.
Narumi Hosokawa, deputy director-general for immediate crisis management at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told a briefing, as reported by Reuters, that the Asian country also plans to import from Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, and Angola.
Japan plans to release 20 days’ worth of oil reserves from May, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a cabinet meeting yesterday.
It is conducting the new oil stockpile release independently, and by May, plans to secure more than half of oil imports via routes that do not include the Strait of Hormuz, Takaichi said.
Last May, Japan was importing around 189,000 barrels of oil per day from the U.S., or some 8% of its total crude oil purchases that month, according to customs data, and U.S. officials have called on Japan to buy more.
Japan is dependent on the Middle East for some 95% of its oil.
It began releasing reserves on March 16 unilaterally and in coordination with other nations under a plan to make available enough oil to last 50 days. The 20 days’ worth is additional.
The U.S. and Iran have agreed on a two-week ceasefire to the war that began in late February, but there is no sign of Iran lifting its near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies.
As of April 7, Japan had enough oil for 228 days in its reserves, including 143 days in its public stockpile. The new release would come from the public stockpile, Takaichi said.
The country is also bringing substitute oil supply from the U.S., its closest ally, and those levels will be four times higher in May than a year earlier, a document released by METI showed yesterday.
