The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed an agreement with Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy to store more than 8.1 million barrels of crude in Japanese storage facilities.
The agreement which extends for three years, allows ADNOC to store crude oil in Japanese facilities and sell it to its clients. Meanwhile, it would have to supply specific quantities to the Japanese market if a shortage of oil supplies in Japan takes place.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) confirmed on Tuesday that storage capacity agreed with ADNOC was raised from the previous 1.0 million kilolitres (6.3 million barrels) to 1.3 million kilolitres, equal to about four days of Japanese oil consumption.
Japan imports about 25% of its oil from UAE.
The Natural resource-poor country buys 90% of its oil from the region, Reuters reported.
The agreement comes as Japan aims to strengthen the security of its energy supply amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that have been rising since last year.
Earlier, in December, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said it has renewed a deal with Saudi Aramco for crude oil storage on the island of Okinawa for another three years.
