IEA Announces Record Release of 400 Million Barrels

TDT | Manama

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Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, marking the largest emergency stock release in the agency’s history.

The announcement was made on Wednesday following an emergency meeting of the 32 member states. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, said the move was necessary due to unprecedented disruptions in the global oil market.

“The challenges we are facing in the oil market are unprecedented in scale,” Birol said in a statement. “I am very pleased that IEA member countries have responded with a collective emergency action that is unparalleled in its size.”

He emphasized that oil markets are global, and therefore the response to major disruptions must also be global. According to Birol, the coordinated release aims to offset supply shortages caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy shipments.

“This is a key measure intended to ease the immediate impact of market disruption,” Birol said, adding that the most important factor for restoring stability to oil and gas flows is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

The IEA said emergency stocks would be made available to the market according to a schedule that aligns with the national circumstances of each member country, and that some countries may introduce additional emergency measures.

IEA member states collectively hold more than 1.2 billion barrels in emergency oil reserves, in addition to around 600 million barrels stored by companies under government obligations.

This marks the sixth coordinated emergency stock release by the agency since its establishment in 1974. Previous coordinated actions were taken ahead of the Gulf War, following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, during the Libyan Revolution, and twice in response to the 2022 Ukraine Crisis.

The unprecedented release underscores the severity of the current supply disruption and the global effort to stabilize energy markets.