Takaichi announces Japan and South Korea will launch a cooperation initiative to strengthen energy supply resilience and security, including mutual supply and s

Takaichi announces Japan and South Korea will launch a cooperation initiative to strengthen energy supply resilience and security, including mutual supply and swaps of crude oil and LNG.

[Ministerial Meeting on the Situation in the Middle East] On May 21, 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi attended the eighth Ministerial Meeting on the Situation in the Middle East at the Prime Minister’s Office. At the meeting, the participants engaged in discussions on the situation in the Middle East and related matters. Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister stated the following. (Prime Minister Takaichi)Thank you for your hard work and dedication. I held a telephone talk on the 15th with President Trump immediately after his visit to China. Regarding the situation surrounding Iran, I reiterated Japan's basic position that it is of utmost importance to steadily achieve de-escalation of the situation as soon as possible. In addition, during my visit to the Republic of Korea this week, President LEE Jae Myung and I agreed to launch a Japan-ROK cooperation initiative under “POWERR Asia,” announced last month, and to jointly consider concrete actions, based on two pillars: (i) strengthening energy supply resilience including stockpiling in the Indo-Pacific region, and (ii) enhancing energy security for both Japan and the ROK including mutual supply and swaps of crude oil, petroleum products and LNG. We also agreed to jointly consider concrete actions going forward. This was a meaningful outcome. As part of our domestic measures, we continue to provide subsidies for gasoline, diesel, heavy oil, and kerosene. As shown on pages 1 to 4 of the handout materials, this week’s gasoline prices are being kept at a nationwide average of 170 yen per liter—one of the lowest levels among the G7 countries—through subsidies amounting to 42 yen per liter. Thanks to progress in efforts to secure alternative procurement sources, it will be possible to continue supplying petroleum products, including chemical products derived from crude oil and naphtha, beyond the end of the year. However, bottlenecks in the distribution process are causing disruptions in the flow of goods. Looking at the cases to date, we can see that these bottlenecks broadly fall into three categories, as Minister Akazawa also explained earlier. First, there are cases in which upstream petrochemical manufacturers informed downstream companies that the volume of raw material supply for the following month had yet to be determined, prompting trading companies and thinner manufacturers in the midstream segment to voluntarily restrict supply. Second, there are cases in which, even after supply volumes had recovered following an earlier notice of thinner supply constraints, that recovery was not communicated to customers in a timely manner. Third, there are cases in which painting contractors undertaking part of large-scale repair projects, concerned about possible thinner shortages, placed bulk orders all at once rather than making smaller orders as usual, thereby affecting shipments at the upstream level. These issues have been resolved by the government approaching individual companies directly, providing accurate information, and helping them