General News

Japan to Release Additional Oil Reserves from May 1

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Kikuma National Petroleum Stockpiling Base in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, is seen in March.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:17 JST, April 25, 2026

The government will begin releasing an additional 36 million barrels from national oil reserves from May 1 in response to the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said Friday.

The amount set to be released is equivalent to about 20 days’ worth of domestic consumption. It will be released from 10 storage facilities, including the Shibushi National Petroleum Stockpiling Base in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The oil from this second release will be sold to four major oil wholesalers — Eneos Corp., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Cosmo Oil Co. and Taiyo Oil Co. — for a total of about ¥540 billion.

The first batch, which was about 53 million barrels and released from March 26, was sold for roughly the same amount. This shows a price increase of more than 40%, driven in part by rising international crude oil prices due to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

In addition to releasing reserves, the government is working to stabilize supply by securing alternative crude oil sources that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

“As a result of making progress in securing alternative sources, we have a plan to ensure oil supply beyond the end of the year while keeping the amount of reserves released as low as possible,” said a ministry official.

The ministry also announced that a tanker carrying U.S. crude oil was scheduled to arrive at Cosmo Oil’s Chiba Refinery in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, as early as Sunday. It is the first delivery to Japan of U.S. crude oil that was procured after the start of the war in Iran.

It was to take the small tanker, which was able to pass through the Panama Canal, about 35 days to arrive in Japan, about 20 days faster than the standard route via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

The ministry expects that the volume of crude oil that will be procured from the United States in May will be about four times more compared to the previous year, which was about 90,000 barrels per day.