Japan-Oil Prices Surge/Impact
Japan-Oil Prices Surge/Impact
Dateline : March 19, 2026/File
Location : Japan
Duration : 1'59
FILE: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan - 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of oil storage tanks
FILE: Japan - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of oil storage tanks along sea
Tokyo, Japan - March 19, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kohei Misunami, associate professor, Faculty of Economics, Teikyo University:
"If the war lasts longer than four weeks and develops into several months, due to the issue of financial resources, how to utilize existing financial resources while suppressing the rise in domestic gasoline prices -- such a balance will become a rather difficult policy operation."
FILE: Japan - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of gas station, worker refueling car
FILE: Osaka, Japan - March 26, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of gas station, resident refueling car
FILE: Tokyo, Japan - March 25, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of gas station, worker refueling car
Tokyo, Japan - March 19, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kohei Misunami, associate professor, Faculty of Economics, Teikyo University:
"It usually takes about three to four months for fuel price increases to be reflected in electricity prices. It's March now. In three months -- June, July, August, temperatures will be gradually rising, and the demand for power will surge too. The combination of these two factors is worrying."
FILE: Tokyo, Japan - Nov 20, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of traffic
Soaring oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict are rippling through Japan's economy, which could worsen as summer is approaching, according to a Japanese economist.
Japan relies on the Middle East for more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports, making it highly vulnerable to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict at the end of February. The disruption has driven sharp rises in crude oil prices in the country.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Kohei Misunami, associate professor at Teikyo University's Faculty of Economics, expressed concerns about how Japan's policymakers will use existing financial resources to rein in energy costs.
"If the war lasts longer than four weeks and develops into several months, due to the issue of financial resources, how to utilize existing financial resources while suppressing the rise in domestic gasoline prices -- such a balance will become a rather difficult policy operation," he said.
The professor warned that due to the time lag in transmission of prices between energy and electricity, persistently high oil prices will push up electric bills during the upcoming summer -- the peak power consumption season.
"It usually takes about three to four months for fuel price increases to be reflected in electricity prices. It's March now. In three months -- June, July, August, temperatures will be gradually rising, and the demand for power will surge too. The combination of these two factors is worrying," he said.
The Japanese government started an unprecedented oil reserve release on Monday to ease the impact of volatile international oil prices. The release totaled around 80 million barrels, equal to roughly 45 days of Japan's domestic oil consumption, marking the largest-ever drawdown of the country's oil reserves.
ID : 8471082
Published : 2026-03-20 15:22
Last Modified : 2026-03-20 20:17:39
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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