paris: The International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects on energy markets of the war in the Middle East.
The Paris-based organisation said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves. It’s a larger stock than the 182.7 million barrels that were released in 2022 by the IEA’s 32 member countries in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Without sufficient routes to market and with no more available storage, Middle East oil producers have started to reduce production,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said. “And we have seen further attacks and damage to energy and energy-related infrastructure. Refinery operations have also been disrupted, with major implications for jet fuel and diesel supplies in particular.”
IEA member countries currently hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
In response to US and Israeli strikes, Iran has attacked commercial ships across the Persian Gulf, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mount. Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the US and Israel to end their strikes.
Germany and Austria said earlier Wednesday they would release parts of their oil reserves following an IEA request for members to release the record 400 million barrels to help temper energy price spikes due to the Iran war. Japan also said it will release some of its reserves starting Monday. Group of Seven energy ministers met Tuesday at IEA headquarters in Paris to look at ways to bring down prices. The group’s leaders, including US President Donald Trump, met Wednesday via
videoconference.