Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) has renewed a deal with Saudi Aramco for crude oil storage on the island of Okinawa for another three years, the state-run Japanese company said on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, JOGMEC leases 13 national crude oil stockpiling tanks on the island southwest of mainland Japan to Saudi Aramco, enabling the oil group to store about 1.3 million kilolitres of crude oil for the next three years, JOGMEC said in a statement.

In return for providing free storage space to Saudi Aramco, Japan gets a priority claim on the oil stocks in an emergency.

The tank lease deal has been running since 2010 and has been renewed every three years, JOGMEC said.

“It contributes to energy security in Japan and strengthens the relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which supplies more than one-third of Japan’s crude oil imports,” JOGMEC said.

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