JAPANESE Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday that Japan will release oil, which would be the first time for the resource-poor country, to try reducing prices by tapping oil reserves.

“Japan has decided to act in tandem with the United States and sell a portion of the state-owned stockpiles in a manner that does not violate the oil stockpiling law,” said Kishida.

The oil stockpiling law limits the release to purposes such as responding to disasters and overseas political turmoil.

In order not to violate the law, Tokyo plans to release oil reserves that exceed its target of storage in value of 160 days of consumption. The amount of oil to be initially released is expected to be equivalent to consumption in several days, according to a government official.

The White House announced Tuesday that the United States will release 50 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves in coordination with other major energy-consuming countries to address rising prices. Some other countries are also expected to take similar actions.

However, oil prices continued to rise in New York overnight and in Tokyo. (Xinhua)