- America and Europe will begin reserve releases from the end of March.
- IEA releases 271.7 million barrels to mitigate oil price rise.
- Agency calls for insurance, protection to restore Hormuz shipping.
Strategic oil reserves will be released “immediately” in Asia and Oceania, and already at the end of March in America and Europe, the International Energy Agency said on Sunday.
IEA members agreed on March 11 to deplete oil stocks to cushion the rise in prices caused by the war in the Middle East, by far the biggest response of its kind ever.
“Individual implementation plans have been submitted to the IEA by member countries. These plans indicate that stocks will be made available by IEA member countries in Asia Oceania immediately,” the IEA said.
“Stocks from IEA member countries in the Americas and Europe will be made available from the end of March,” it added.
The IEA said a total of 271.7 million barrels of state-managed stockpiles would be released worldwide.
“The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” it said.
It called the emergency stockpile release – the sixth in the history of the global energy body and the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 – a “significant and welcome buffer”.
The announced releases have not had a significant impact on the oil price, which is around $100 per barrel. barrel, the highest since 2022 and up from under $70 before the start of the war.
The IEA added that “the most important factor to ensure a return to stable flows is the resumption of regular shipping transit through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran has effectively blockaded the strategic strait since the war began on February 28 with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets.
“Adequate insurance mechanisms and physical protection of shipping are key to the resumption of flows,” the IEA said.
