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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Japan to begin biggest-ever oil release from national reserves as Middle East energy crisis bites

Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a meeting with ministers on the situation in the Middle East at the prime minister's Office in Tokyo
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, said the release of state-owned reserves would begin on Thursday. Photograph: Jiji Press/AFP/Getty

Japan will begin the biggest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves this week, the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said, as the country braces for possible shortages caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The government last week approved the release of 15 days’ worth of private-sector reserves, amid concern that the conflict in the Middle East will continue to hinder the flow of tanker traffic along the strait of Hormuz.

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