East Asian LNG-supply squeeze.
prob 0.45
severity 3.3 / 5 · revision 2026-05-09watch · 5 East Asian economies · LNG + power$ shortage country get JPN > stress_index: 0.50 WATCH > 1 events · 1 scenarios > refreshed 2026-05-17
BRENT $84.27 ▲ TTF €31.50 ▼ OPEC_SP 3.8 mb/d ● SPR_US 372.4 Mb FAO_FFPI 121.4 ▲
The v3.2 stress index is a six-axis composite of energy and food exposure, geopolitical pressure, fiscal headroom, demography and supply concentration, normalised to a 0–1 scale.
Japan is one of the world's largest energy importers, buying nearly all of its oil and natural gas and pioneering the global LNG trade. It holds among the deepest strategic oil reserves of any economy and is gradually restarting its nuclear fleet. Low cereal self-sufficiency leaves food supply heavily import-dependent.
Japan is generally water-rich, though some regions face seasonal reservoir stress.
| STOCK TYPE | RESERVE | DAYS COVER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil · strategic and commercial reserveJapan holds one of the world's deepest oil reserves across government and industry stocks. | ~150+ days | 150days | STABLE |
| Natural gas · LNG-dependent supplyGas supply is balanced through LNG terminal regasification with relatively thin storage. | limited storage | 20days | WATCH |
| Nuclear fuel · utility inventoriesUtilities hold multi-year fuel inventories as reactors are gradually brought back online. | multi-year | 365days | STABLE |
| Grain · government and commercial stocksJapan keeps rice and wheat reserves, but overall cereal self-sufficiency is among the lowest of advanced economies. | moderate | 90days | WATCH |
$ curl -s https://api.shortage.life/v1/countries/JPN | jq '.stress' > 0.50