CERAWEEK-Efforts to shore up energy supplies to address supply are 'not enough', Japan says

By Georgina McCartney and Curtis Williams

March 23 (Reuters) - Coordinated efforts by governments to boost energy supplies in the wake of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran are "not enough" to ease market strain, Takehiko Matsuo, Japan's Vice Minister for International Affairs, said on Monday at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas.

Asian countries rely heavily on trade through the Strait of Hormuz and have been hit hard by its closure after the war started. Japan is urging companies to find other trade routes, and said it is also interested in diversifying energy supply, in particular by securing energy from the West Coast of North America.