The Diet enacted legislation Friday to dissolve the debt-ridden Japan National Oil Corp. in 2005 and reshuffle the nation's oil-exploration and petroleum-stockpiling policies.
The two bills had earlier cleared the House of Representatives and were passed in the House of Councilors on Friday.
The legislation, part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administrative reform drive, is designed to scale down state-backed functions while maintaining key government risk-cushioning roles, such as providing oil-development funds via the establishment of a new entity.
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