Japan is initiating a major drawdown of its strategic oil stocks beginning Monday, March 15, releasing 80 million barrels of crude in a move aimed at easing supply disruptions tied to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The government has instructed domestic refiners to make use of the released crude to stabilise supplies inside the country as gasoline prices across Japan begin to rise amid disruptions to flows through the Gulf's Strait of Hormuz.
The 80 million barrels represent roughly 45 days of supply for Japan and will lower national reserves by about 17%, officials said. It is not yet clear how much of Tokyo's release will be contributed to a wider, 400 million barrel global emergency distribution that the International Energy Agency is coordinating to address the conflict-driven supply shock and market volatility.
Tokyo's emergency action includes tapping private-sector stocks and state-held reserves on a defined timetable. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry - METI - Japan will start releasing the equivalent of 15 days' worth of private-sector oil on Monday, with a month's worth from state reserves to follow later this month.
METI has asked refiners to process the crude being freed from stockpiles to secure domestic fuel availability. The ministry also noted that any release of 12 million barrels held in joint arrangements in Japan by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait would be additional to the announced 80 million barrels.
Analysts and officials framed the release as a tool to stabilise domestic availability and short-term prices, while cautioning it is primarily a temporary buffer rather than a long-term fix. "The reserves can help stabilise supplies and prices in the short term but they mainly buy time. They can? t fully offset a prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz," said Yuriy Humber, CEO of the Tokyo-based consultancy Yuri Group.
Japan's national reserve system dates to 1978, established several years after the Arab oil embargo. The Group of Seven nation relies on the Middle East for roughly 90% of its oil and currently stockpiles the equivalent of 254 days of consumption. Despite that, the present measures are aimed squarely at immediate market and domestic supply pressures stemming from the Middle East conflict.
METI Minister Ryosei Akazawa said the government is also pursuing supplies from sources that can bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Officials are looking toward the United States, Central Asia, South America and Gulf nations for alternative deliveries that reduce reliance on shipments transiting the Strait.
Japan currently receives around 4% of its oil from the United States, a share that emerged after Tokyo largely stopped purchases from Russia following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That 2022 disruption was the last occasion on which Japan tapped its reserves.
U.S. officials have also commented on the situation. "When you look at the conflict in the Middle East ... you? re reminded of all that crude oil that has gone from Alaska to Japan was never targeted with a successful terrorist attack," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told Reuters. "This conflict ... is a reminder that along the Indo-Pacific, a lot of other nations can look to the United States, where we have the resources."
Japan's move to deploy strategic stocks underscores the immediate policy levers available to governments confronting sudden supply shocks. While the release seeks to blunt price spikes and preserve domestic fuel availability, officials and analysts alike stress the measure is temporary and contingent on how long disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz persist.