TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite the confrontation between the United States and Iran, Taiwan has enough oil to last for 128 days, so there is no need for a panic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Thursday (Jan. 9).

According to MOEA Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), the situation in the Middle East has already calmed down, so neither the price nor supply of oil and natural gas should be cause for concern.

Government reserves of oil products amount to 44 days, while the private sector has enough for an additional 84 days, the Liberty Times reported.

The crisis took the price of a barrel of Brent crude across the US$70 threshold, but since then, the situation has settled down and the price fallen back to US$66.57 per barrel.

The economics minister emphasized that looking at the latest trends, prices were unlikely to show a spike again any time soon.

According to state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan, about half of the island's oil came from the Middle East but none came from Iran, while 40 percent was imported from the United States and about 10 percent from Latin America.

The island’s largest supplier of natural gas was Qatar, accounting for 28 percent, with 60 percent coming from outside the Middle East, including 26 percent from Australia and 15 percent from Malaysia, the Liberty Times reported.