IEA Members to Release Record Oil Reserves Amid Iran War Price Surge

In response to the war in Iran and the resulting sharp spike in energy prices, member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have agreed to release a record volume of oil from their national strategic reserves.

The 32 member states unanimously decided to supply 400 million barrels of crude oil from their emergency stocks onto the market, the agency announced following an extraordinary meeting in Paris on Wednesday, March 11. The IEA stated that several countries would also take additional emergency measures.

"The challenges we face on the oil market are unprecedented in scale," explained IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, justifying the decision. He added that as oil markets are global, the response to major disruptions must also be global.

This marks the largest-ever coordinated release of oil reserves in the history of IEA joint actions. The step aims to stabilize markets that are under severe strain due to the conflict in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—a critical chokepoint for approximately 20% of global oil trade.

In a related move to ease pressure on world markets, the United States granted India a temporary waiver to purchase Russian oil. In recent days, oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022.

IEA members, which include G7 nations, hold over 1.2 billion barrels of strategic petroleum reserves. An additional 600 million barrels are held as commercial stocks by industry.

Since its founding in 1974, coordinated use of IEA emergency oil stocks has been authorized only five times: prior to the second Gulf War in 1991, following major hurricanes in 2005, during Libya's civil war in 2011, and twice after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.