The Japanese government said Monday that more of the private-sector's petroleum reserves would be used to ease supply shortages stemming from the March 11 earthquake, releasing 25 days' worth of fuel into the market, the Nikkei reported in its Tuesday morning edition.

The oil industry is required by law to keep 70 days' worth of petroleum reserves. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decided March 14 to lower the requirement to 67 days. METI has now decided to tap an additional 22 days, or roughly 9.24 million kiloliters.

As a result, reserves will be down to 45 days--an inventory level METI deems necessary to keep the industry's production steady.

The government is working to smooth oil distribution and has already secured enough capacity to meet the stricken Tohoku region's demand of 38,000kl a day.

In addition, about 56,000kl of petroleum had been moved to the Kanto region over the three days through Monday.

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