Japan has no plans for new oil release from national reserves, official says

By Reuters News

TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday there were no plans for a fresh release of crude oil from national reserves as the country had already released supplies.

Kihara's comments come even as the Group of Seven countries, of which Japan is a member, agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from energy export restrictions. The announcement followed pressure from US President Donald Trump on the European Union to draw down emergency diesel inventories.

It was uncertain how much of the new release would come from what remains from the 400 million barrels of oil that the 32 countries that are members of the International Energy Agency agreed to release in March to mitigate disruptions from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said last week that members had released about two-thirds of the 400-million-barrel agreement.

In March, Japan said it would release about 80 million barrels of oil from its reserves as part of the coordinated agreement. Japan also conducted a second round of national crude oil stockpile releases in May.

"Japan has been releasing oil from reserves for some time now and there are no plans for a further release at this stage," Kihara told a press conference.

The G7 meeting came amid delays in the release of European strategic reserves and growing concerns over soaring diesel prices globally, with discussions focusing in particular on measures to address diesel prices in Europe, the US and elsewhere, Kihara said.

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