December 16, 2022, 03:27 – Public News Service – OSN
Unprecedented oil prices and their jump, caused by the Ukrainian conflict and anti-Russian sanctions, have led Japan to record inflation, writes Shukan Gendai.
The author of the material pointed out that now Tokyo is facing a new crisis, but the reason for the increase in the cost of energy will no longer be Moscow. The Middle East can play this role.
At the moment, the price of oil is holding steady as the G7 countries and the European Union have introduced a price cap.
However, the author clarifies, such a measure still proved ineffective because India and China, two major consumers of Russian oil, refused to participate in the price ceiling scheme.
Shukan Gendai writes that on December 4, the OPEC+ group, which accounts for almost 50% of the world’s oil supply, decided to maintain current production levels until the end of next year.
According to the author of the article, despite the fact that the countries of the Middle East have the opportunity to increase the production of black gold, there is still a high level of geopolitical risks and the situation in Iran is often on the agenda. However, he would like to draw attention to the instability of Iraq.
If a civil war breaks out in Iraq, then about 4.5 million barrels of oil per day will steadily disappear from the market and this will lead to higher prices, writes Shukan Gendai.
The author emphasized that in such a scenario, the Japanese side, which depends on supplies from the Middle East, will suffer the most.
As previously reported by the Public News Service, the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Japan Hirokazu Matsuno said that the decision of OPEC + to maintain the plan to reduce oil production leads to increased uncertainty in the market.
