The 32 member countries unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.
The 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) this week unanimously agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market to address disruptions stemming from the conflict in the Middle East, according to a press release.
IEA said the decision to take emergency collective action was made following a meeting of IEA member governments earlier this week, convened by the IEA executive director to assess market conditions and consider the options to address supply disruptions.
“The emergency stocks will be made available to the market over a timeframe that is appropriate to the national circumstances of each member country and will be supplemented by additional emergency measures by some countries,” IEA said.
According to the release, IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
The coordinated stock release is the sixth in the history of the IEA, which was created in 1974. Previous collective actions were taken in 1991, 2005, 2011 and twice in 2022.
The conflict in the Middle East has “impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with export volumes of crude and refined products currently at less than 10% of pre-conflict levels,” IEA said.
An average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade.
The IEA said it will also continue to closely monitor global oil and gas markets and provide recommendations to member governments.
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