This prompted Roosevelt to freeze all Japanese assets in the United States on July 26, 1941, which effectively cut off Japan's access to US oil.
Responding to Japanese occupation of key airfields in Indochina (July 24) after an agreement between Japan and Vichy France, the U.S. froze Japanese assets on July 26, 1941, and on August 1, it established an embargo on oil and gasoline exports to Japan.
On July 28, 1941, in reaction to the advance of the Japanese Army into Southern Indochina the United States government on July 25 froze Japanese assets held in the United States. Additionally all oil exports to Japan were prohibited.
With the East Indies oil, Japan was able to import enough oil to make up for the oil embargo in July 1941 by the Americans, British, and Dutch. There was no lack of oil, and the Japanese fleet could even refuel locally at will. They even struck a giant field in central Sumatra in the Minas structure.
Oil proved to be one of the critical elements in the pattern of events that brought the two countries to war. The Japanese military was obsessed with oil. Its strategists had carefully studied the lessons of World War I, in which oil and the internal combustion engine had proved of decisive importance.
In 2022, Russia accounted for 9% of Japan's total 74.32 million mt of LNG imports. Likewise, it was the source of 4% of Japan's total crude oil imports, as per data from the finance ministry.
Having lost 94% of its oil supply and unwilling to submit to U.S demands, Japan planned to take the oil needed by force.
LNG supply from Sakhalin 2 accounts for roughly 9% of Japan's total LNG imports, which equated to 3% of the country's total electricity supply, according to METI. More than half of the 9.6 million mt/year LNG production capacity at Sakhalin 2 in Russia's Far East is committed to Japanese offtakers.
Germany only amounted to 4.5 million barrels—despite the fact that the USSR sat squarely on top of the world's largest oil reserves. Soviet invasion, Germany had managed to build petroleum reserves to an estimated 56 million barrels.
Without imports of steel and oil, the Japanese military could not fight for long. Without oil, the navy would not be able to move after it had exhausted its six-month reserve. Roosevelt hoped that this economic pressure would force Japan to end its military expansion in East Asia.
(Gilder Lehrman Collection) On December 7, 1941, two hours after the Japanese attack on American military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japan declared war on the United States and Great Britain, marking America's entry into World War II.
The United States made this decision in close consultation with our Allies and partners around the world, as well as Members of Congress of both parties.
Oil industry in Japan
Since the archipelago lacks domestic fossil fuels, it is heavily dependent on imports. Most crude oil imports to Japan came from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
The United States benefited the most from WWII as it had a large population, technological prowess, and the capital necessary to change WWII machinations into business and industry that benefited the civilian. Europe saw great growth post-WWII; it just happened slower than it did in the United States and Japan.
Both Japan and Germany had embarked upon wars of conquest for similar reasons - access to resources, particularly oil. And it was shortages of oil that had ultimately contributed to each nation's defeat.
Lightest, Low-Sulfur, Low Tan Crude Oil Deposits in the World. The best crude oil in the world is found in Malaysia. “Tapis, the Malaysian crude benchmark traded in Singapore, has for a long time held the title of the world's most expensive grade.
Oil remains the most significant energy source in Japan, accounting for about 40% of the country's total energy supply, even if Japan's oil demand has been steadily decreasing in line with the country's overall declining total energy use.
Saudi Arabia is China's main crude oil supplier. In 2021, China imported nearly 81 million metric tons worth of crude oil from the Middle Eastern producing giant. In fact, the majority of China's oil imports originated from countries in the Middle East.
The country lacks significant domestic reserves of fossil fuel, except coal, and must import substantial amounts of crude oil, natural gas, and other energy resources, including uranium.
Japan's economic growth after the 1940s was based on unprecedented expansion of industrial production and the development of an enormous domestic market, as well as on an aggressive export trade policy.
A tremendous economic recovery followed, and Japan became one of the world's wealthiest countries.
China had been at war with Japan since 1937 and continued the fight until the Japanese surrender in 1945. The United States advised and supported China's ground war, while basing only a few of its own units in China for operations against Japanese forces in the region and Japan itself.