Executive Director meets with Prime Minister of Japan to discuss energy security amid war in Middle East

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan in Tokyo today to discuss the impacts of the war in the Middle East on energy security in Asia and beyond, as well as the IEA’s historic release of emergency oil stocks to counter market disruptions.

In the meeting, Dr Birol thanked Prime Minister Takaichi for Japan’s vital support for the collective oil stock release by IEA Member countries of around 400 million barrels, the largest ever, which was announced on 11 March.

Prime Minister Takaichi highlighted that the IEA's core mission of ensuring energy security has become more important than ever, with oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz dwindling to a trickle amid the current conflict. While the consequences are global, the impacts are currently being felt most acutely across the Asia-Pacific region, which is the destination for the vast majority of fuel exports from the Middle East via the Strait.

The Prime Minister expressed her gratitude to Dr Birol for his longstanding support and advice for Japan’s energy policy making – and for the IEA’s expanding work on critical minerals supply security. They agreed that Japan and the IEA would continue to work together closely to emerge from the current energy crisis stronger.

In Tokyo, Dr Birol also had a bilateral meeting with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryōsei Akazawa in which they discussed the economic effects of the energy market disruptions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the implementation of the IEA emergency oil stock release. They also spoke about the longer-term implications of the crisis for energy security.

Dr Birol’s visit to Tokyo followed his meetings with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and other leaders from Australian government and industry in Canberra earlier this week.