CERAWEEK-Efforts to shore up energy supplies 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.-Israeli 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.

Members of the International Energy Agency are releasing 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles in a bid to quell high prices as global oil futures have soared to over $100 a barrel. Japan is contributing some 80 million barrels to the effort, the second-highest quantity behind the United States, which will put some 172 million barrels from its reserves into the market.

Asian countries rely heavily on trade through the Strait of Hormuz and have been hit hard by its closure since 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.

"Almost 80% of natural gas passing through the Strait of Hormuz is exported to Asian countries. So Asian countries are affected by this blockage of Hormuz very severely," Matsuo said on Monday.

Japan has about three weeks of gas supplies left, he said.