Japan: Government to Revise Fuel Reserve Law
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Wednesday, 07 December 2011 |
The Japanese Government plans to submit a bill to the country’s parliament next year that will ensure proper supplies of fuel even in major disasters. The bill will allow the Government to entrust emergency fuel management to domestic oil firms, as it also plans to build reserves of fuel including kerosene and gasoline.
The move comes in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that caused major loss of life and disruption in Japan earlier this year. Under current laws, the Government currently stockpiles 95 days worth of crude oil to cope with political and price instability that may arise. When the disaster occurred, 25 days worth of oil reserves were released, but a gasoline shortage still occurred in areas affected because of damage to refineries.
As a result, The Government intends to focus on building reserves of heavy fuel oil A, which can be used for gasoline, kerosene, light oil and small-scale power generation. It will set aside reserves of four to five days for each category, and will use tanks that currently belong to private oil companies for storage. Under the proposal, oil companies nationwide will be obliged to develop implementation plans for distribution of fuel in advance.
PetrolWorld 07122011
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