Japan can maintain stable oil supplies until March 2028, says PM Takaichi
Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi stated Thursday that her country can now maintain stable domestic oil supplies until March 2028, rather than until next spring as she had previously said, Jiji Press reports.
At a meeting of the relevant minister on the situation in the Middle East, Takaichi said that Japan's alternative oil procurement, or oil imports that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, is expected to account for all of its oil imports in July.
Japan is slated to receive oil from Mexico, while oil imports from the United States are expected to increase more than 10-fold from a year earlier, according to the prime minister.
Even if the proportion of such alternative procurement is 75 percent in August and beyond, Japan can maintain stable oil supplies by using its oil reserves, she added.
Takaichi also said that the government has developed a system that allows lubricants to be sold directly from major producers, in response to concerns that the supply of lubricants, used for thousands of items, such as engine oil and cutting oil, is complex and prone to disruption.
As reported earlier, Hormuz tensions prompted Japan to take action against single-use plastics.