On Monday, the White House refused to confirm what Bloomberg reported on officials about US President Joe Biden's intention to release stocks from the strategic Federal Reserve of oil in coordination with major countries in Asia and the European Union in order to limit the rise in fuel prices.
But the White House did not deny making contacts with Japan, India and South Korea, to ensure an increase in global supplies of oil by drawing from their strategic reserves. While the White House spokesman confirmed that no decision had been taken regarding the liberation of oil reserves.
And Saturday, Kyodo news agency reported that Japan is considering releasing oil from its reserves for the first time to curb the rise in oil prices, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida indicated his readiness to face rising oil prices "after a request from the United States," according to Reuters.
However, Japan may struggle to justify such a move, since under its own laws, the country can only release reserves at a time of supply constraints or natural disasters, but not to cut prices.
Reuters reported that the Biden administration has pressured some of the world's largest economies to consider liberating oil from their strategic reserves in the face of high energy prices.
The requests include asking China for the first time to consider releasing stocks of crude.
"We are moving forward to consider what we can do legally on the basis that Japan will coordinate with the United States and other relevant countries," Kishida told reporters.
He added, "We want to reach a conclusion after a comprehensive study of the situation that each country faces and what Japan can do."
Japan has tapped its reserves in the past to deal with the fallout from the Gulf War in the early 1990s, and the deadly earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday that Tokyo is closely watching the impact of high oil prices on the world's third-largest economy.
"While we urge oil-producing countries to increase oil production, we will strive to stabilize energy markets through coordination with major consuming nations and international organizations such as the International Energy Agency," Matsuno said.
Resource-poor Japan gets the vast majority of its oil from the Middle East. The recent rise in oil prices, and a weak yen, has pushed up the cost of imports, dealing a double whammy to a country dependent on trade.
On Friday, the Kishida government unveiled a record stimulus plan worth 490 billion dollars, including measures to counter high oil prices. It plans to support oil refineries in the hope of capping wholesale gasoline and fuel prices to ease the suffering of households and companies from rising oil costs.
"The important thing is to urge the oil-producing countries to increase oil production. We will arrange concrete measures after ascertaining which industrial sectors will be affected," Kishida said last month after discussions with cabinet ministers.
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