G7 leaders held an online meeting on Wednesday (11/2) to discuss the situation in the Middle East following the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the possibility of coordinated oil reserves release to stabilize the global market.
As reported by ANTARA from Kyodo, the meeting took place a day after the International Energy Agency (IEA) reportedly proposed the largest oil reserve release in history at an emergency meeting.
The move will be the IEA's first collective response since 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
From Japan, which relies on the Middle East for more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to call for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation at the meeting, according to government sources.
Ahead of the meeting, he told Japanese reporters he would start reducing his oil reserves as early as next Monday without waiting for a decision on a collective response under the IEA.
"Japan is ready to release oil reserves equivalent to 15 days of consumption held by the private sector as well as reserves equivalent to one month of consumption held by the government," he said.
As of the end of December, Japan had enough oil reserves for 254 days of domestic consumption, consisting of 146 days owned by the government, 101 days owned by the private sector, and the rest stored with oil-producing countries.
Following reports that Iran had begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy routes through which about a fifth of global oil consumption passes, G7 leaders are expected to stress close cooperation at the meeting.
G7 members are seeking to ensure crude supplies remain stable after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed since the start of the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February.
On Tuesday, the G7 countries - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, as well as the European Union - held an online meeting of energy ministers.
During the meeting, they reiterated their readiness to take necessary steps, including reserve releases, to support global energy supplies.
The Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported the IEA had previously proposed "the largest release of oil reserves in its history" to dampen the price spike.
According to the IEA, the largest coordinated release of oil reserves occurred in 2022 when member countries committed to releasing about 182 million barrels of emergency reserves in two stages.
IEA member countries, including G7 countries, currently have more than 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil reserves.
Meanwhile, the United States and Japan hold a combined reserve of around 700 million barrels.
IEA members are required to have oil reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports and be ready to respond collectively to serious supply disruptions affecting the global oil market.
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