Japan will consider the coordinated release of oil reserves, if necessary, the nation’s Industry Minister reportedly said on Tuesday.
The minister also said that the weekend’s attack on Saudi oil facilities has not disrupted Japan’s oil procurement.
The pre-dawn strikes on Saturday knocked out more than half of crude output from Saudi Arabia – the world’s top exporter, which contributes about five percent of the global oil supply.
The resulting fears of prolonged supply outage pushed oil prices higher by almost 20% in the Asian trading hours on Monday.