NewsRescue
According to Bloomberg, Japan is aiming to establish a global strategic natural gas reserve to protect against energy shortages like the one that affected the EU and its allies last year.
Tokyo’s plan, according to persons familiar with the situation, will be presented to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and will include a so-called strategic buffer equivalent to an emergency oil reserve.
According to Bloomberg, the IEA currently mandates member countries such as the United States and Japan to keep a strategic store of oil equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports in case of emergency. According to reports, Tokyo will propose putting its gas reserve idea on the agenda of an IEA ministerial meeting in February.
The energy-scarce country is mainly reliant on foreign suppliers. Tokyo has been hesitant to restrict Russia’s energy sector, despite its importance to Japanese energy security. Japan was exempted from the Western price cap on Russian oil imports, which had barred supply from the Far Eastern Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project. Japan has also retained its share in Russian cooperative energy projects.
