Japan to offer knowledge on oil stockpiling

Japan to offer knowledge on oil stockpiling

TOKYO (DPA): Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to offer know-how to other Asian countries on stockpiling oil, ministry officials said Monday.

The ministry hopes that by boosting oil stockpiles in Asia, Japan would be less vulnerable to any crisis affecting its ability to procure such resources from elsewhere, the officials said.

Japan leads other Asian countries in its system of stockpiling oil, and the ministry is considering offering technology on building and operating oil tanks and underground oil storage facilities.

The ministry started sounding out Asian countries - mainly members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ministry is also considering calling for the standardization of data on oil supply in the Asian region to make it easier to gauge the size of each country's stockpile.

Consumption of crude oil is growing again in Asia, in line with the economic pickup there, and prices are showing signs of rising.

Experts have pointed to worries of possible economic turmoil in Asia if any political instability in the oil-producing Middle East leads to a drastic shortage in supply.

Japan's stockpile in government and private facilities amounts to 163 days of supply, standing at roughly 91 million kiloliters in finished oil products.