00:00The release of a record volume of oil reserves has done little to bring down oil prices.
00:06Brent crude, the most important benchmark for global prices,
00:10hovered around US$105 a barrel today before easing slightly to 103.
00:15Japan today has also started releasing oil from its stockpiles
00:19to mitigate global disruptions caused by the Middle East war.
00:25Tokyo has pledged to release a record 80 million barrels of oil,
00:29equivalent to 45 days of supply.
00:32The government has asked Japan's refiners to use the released crude,
00:36which will reduce the national reserves by 17%.
00:39It is not known how much of the oil will go to a global release of 400 million barrels
00:45being coordinated by the International Energy Agency, IEA,
00:50to address supply shock from the Iran war.
00:53The agency said its 32 member countries unanimously agreed on March 11
00:58to tap strategic reserves in what would be its largest collective action
01:03to stabilize energy markets.
01:05Barrels from Asia and Oceania are expected to enter global markets immediately,
01:10while releases from the Americas and Europe are set to begin at the end of March.
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