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Hormuz Strait’s shipping continues to be disrupted, impacting energy supplies in Asia. Japan has clearly stated that its strategic oil reserves will primarily be used for domestic refiners, leaving countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam seeking assistance from Japan with little hope.

On March 27, according to Bloomberg, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa stated that “the sales target of strategic oil reserves is primarily aimed at domestic oil and refining companies” because these reserves are legally established to ensure Japan’s own energy supply. He also left room for interpretation, pointing out that “the situation with jointly held reserves with oil-producing countries may be different” and that “judgments will be made based on specific circumstances.”

This statement implies that, amid the ongoing energy crisis in Asia, Japan will not directly transfer its national reserves to other Asian countries in the short term. For the Philippines, which relies on oil imports from the Hormuz Strait and has reserves much smaller than Japan’s, the situation is particularly severe. Akazawa acknowledged that “Asia is facing an extremely difficult situation” and emphasized that maintaining the supply-demand balance in the Asian market is also crucial for Japan’s own industrial supply chain.

Japan activates oil release, joint reserves become a flexible adjustment variable

According to Bloomberg, Japan has begun releasing oil reserves this month to ease supply tensions caused by the actual blockade of the Hormuz Strait, which is a key passage for Japan’s crude oil imports. Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed the possibility of coordinating the release of additional reserves if necessary during talks with International Energy Agency (IEA) Director Fatih Birol.

Japan’s strategic oil reserves consist of three parts: national reserves, private enterprise reserves, and jointly held reserves with oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. As of January this year, these three types of reserves corresponded to 144 days, 99 days, and 8 days of oil consumption, respectively. The joint reserves are the smallest, and the flexible space mentioned by Akazawa as “may be different” mainly refers to this portion of reserves.

Multi-faceted approach to seek alternative supplies

While utilizing reserves, Japan is also actively exploring alternative oil sources. According to Bloomberg, citing Japanese media, Japan’s largest oil and gas exploration and production company Inpex Corp plans to prioritize supplying crude oil from its interests in Central Asia to Japanese buyers. Akazawa did not comment on this but stated that it is “reasonable” for Japanese private enterprises to focus on Central Asia, as there have been precedents for importing from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, after a summit with U.S. President Trump on March 19, Kishida expressed a desire to expand energy imports from the United States, including exploring the possibility of establishing U.S. oil reserves in Japan. Japan is maintaining retail gasoline prices at about 170 yen per liter through subsidies to ease the burden on residents.

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