Because high oil prices affect not only transport firms but also manufacturers that use oil to make their products, the health of Japanese companies both big and small in a wide range of sectors is likely to be affected by the continuing price rise, analysts say.

The ongoing price surge, already nearly equivalent in scale to the oil crises in the 1970s, is expected to carry the price to well over $100 per barrel as early as this month, some analysts say.

And noting the pattern of past crises, the current oil market turmoil could take nearly a decade to stabilize, they add.