TOKYO: State-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) issued a tender on Friday to buy about 2.52 million barrels (400,000 kilolitres) of light crude for the government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
JOGMEC will hold the tender on Oct. 19, with bids to be opened on the same day, according to the tender document on JOGMEC’s website.
The tender comes after Japan in June sold a total 4.15 million barrels of crude from the government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves as part of a plan to replace the oil with other grades.
In recent years, Japan has been replacing heavier crude in its reserves with lighter crudes to reflect the growing share of light crudes in recent imports. The tender is not linked to any emergency release coordinated by the International Energy Agency.
JOGMEC is seeking four sets of 630,000-barrel light crude, which are to be delivered to two government stockpiling bases in Tomakomai City in Hokkaido, northern Japan, by Feb. 24, 2016, the tender document showed.