The Japanese government began releasing its national petroleum reserves on the 26th, local time. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the release process started at 11 a.m. local time on the 26th from the Kikuma National Oil Stockpiling Base in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture. The ministry stated that the government plans to initiate the release of oil reserves progressively throughout March at nine bases across the country, including the aforementioned site, with two additional bases to be added in April, ultimately covering a total of eleven locations. The total volume scheduled for release is approximately 8.5 million kiloliters, equating to about one month's worth of Japan's domestic petroleum consumption. The national oil reserves being released will be sold by the Japanese government via discretionary contracts to four major oil wholesalers for approximately 540 billion yen. These companies will then process the crude into refined products such as gasoline before supplying them to the market. Combined with releases from private sector reserves, this initiative represents the largest petroleum release in Japan's history. Additionally, the Japanese government plans to collaborate with oil-producing nations to release a "joint reserve with oil-producing countries" stored domestically, with this release also scheduled to begin within March, amounting to an estimated five days' worth of consumption.