Japan will release strategic oil reserves as early as Monday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has said, a unilateral move by the import-dependent Asian economy to ease concerns over rising fuel prices due to the war, according to AFP.

Japan is the world’s fourth-largest economy and the fifth-biggest importer of crude oil, with about 95 per cent of its needs coming from the Middle East and around 70pc passing through the Strait of Hormuz before the conflict began.

Tokyo has been working with other nations on a possible coordinated release of oil to offset rising global crude prices, but Takaichi has said that Japan needed to act quickly to minimise their impact at home.