On March 11, the International Energy Agency decided to release a record volume of oil from its strategic reserves — 400 million barrels, which accounts for one third of the total volume. This was reported by The Guardian.
All 32 member countries of the agency agreed to this step, which is aimed at mitigating the effects of the market shock caused by the conflict between the USA and Israel with Iran, as well as the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of the world's oil supplies pass.
The Japanese authorities announced their intention to release 80 million barrels from their reserves, both state and private, starting March 18. Germany also reported plans to release 19.51 million barrels of oil in accordance with the decision of the International Energy Agency.
The energy ministers of the G7 countries expressed unanimous support for the use of strategic oil reserves to stabilize the market situation. In turn, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that the country will allocate 172 million barrels from its strategic reserve.
“President Trump has authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels from the reserve,” the Energy Department said in a statement on platform X. Deliveries will begin next week and will last for about 120 days.
Additionally, the minister reported that plans are in place to purchase about 200 million barrels over the next year, which exceeds the volume of the release by 20%.
The last time the International Energy Agency resorted to such a decision was in 2022 due to the start of military actions by Russia in Ukraine, when 182 million barrels of oil were released.
Currently, the global market is losing approximately 15 million barrels of oil daily due to the blockade of trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
