According to the latest media report on Monday (October 18), Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, when talking about energy issues, loudly called on oil producers to increase oil production. He said the Japanese government would pay close attention to the impact of oil price fluctuations on the country's households and industries.
You know, the current energy crisis has escalated from regional to global, and the prices of commodities such as natural gas, coal, and oil have been soaring. Statistics show that as of last Friday (October 15), the international oil price climbed to $82.4 / barrel after breaking through the $80 mark, so far, the international oil price has risen for 8 consecutive weeks, and refreshed the highest record in the past 7 years.
Japan, on the other hand, is a relatively resource-poor country that relies on imports for many of its goods, especially oil, which accounts for more than 10 percent of all Japanese imports. Therefore, the "high fever" of international oil prices has also made the country's domestic oil prices "rise steadily".
Statistics show that at present, the "body value" of ordinary gasoline of Japan's largest oil company Has risen to 166 yen / liter (equivalent to about 9.4 yuan / liter). It is reported that the country's gasoline has risen for 6 consecutive weeks, the highest level in the country in 7 years. In addition, the yen is now depreciating, which helps commodity exports, but in this way, it further increases the pressure on Japan to import energy sources such as oil.
It can be seen that Japan's energy prices are easily affected by international prices, and in order to minimize dependence on foreign energy imports, but also to open up stable income channels, the country's enterprises have intervened. Last week, Ingnen announced that it was spending about 200 billion yen (about 11.3 billion yuan) to acquire a renewable energy company. At the same time, affected by the energy dilemma, Japan's electricity prices are also rising, so the government said it will promote the development of nuclear power to get rid of the "stuck neck" of imported energy.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to Kishida Fumio's call to increase international oil production, US President Biden has repeatedly made the same request to OPEC+, but has been rejected by OPEC+ on the grounds of future market overcapacity. OPEC+'s latest monthly market report shows that the organization slightly lowered its international market demand forecast for oil this year, expecting oil demand to rise by 5.82 million bpd this year.
However, OPEC+ said that if the price of natural gas remains high, this will continue to increase the demand for oil in the market, and the price of oil may continue to rise.
Text | Zhang Jianlin title | Huang Zi Gallium Figure | Lu Wenxiang | Lu Jiamin