G-7 Finance Chiefs Discuss Joint Oil Reserve Release

Tokyo, March 9 (Jiji Press)--Finance ministers from the Group of Seven major democracies discussed a possible joint release of their countries' oil reserves at an online meeting on Monday, in light of surging crude oil prices amid continued conflict between the U.S.-Israel side and Iran.

The meeting was also joined by the International Energy Agency, whose member countries include Japan, the United States and European nations.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said, "We agreed to prepare necessary measures, such as releasing oil reserves."

A joint release of oil reserves would be the first since 2022, when Russia began invading Ukraine.

In 2022, IEA member countries agreed to jointly release over 180 million barrels of oil. Japan decided to release a total of 22.5 million barrels from its private and public oil reserves.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]