- America and Europe begin reserve releases starting end of March.
- IEA releases 271.7 million barrels to cushion oil price surge.
- Agency urges insurance, protection to restore Hormuz shipping.
Strategic oil reserves will be released “immediately” in Asia and Oceania, and as early as the end of March in America and Europe, the International Energy Agency said on Sunday.
IEA members agreed on March 11 to tap oil stockpiles to cushion the surge in prices caused by the war in the Middle East, in by far the largest-ever response of its kind.
“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,” said the IEA.
“Stocks from IEA Member countries in the Americas and Europe will be made available starting from the end of March,” it added.
The IEA said a total of 271.7 million barrels of government-managed stocks 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 is 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 price of oil, which hovers around $100 a barrel, the highest since 2022 and up from below $70 before the start of the war.
The IEA added that “the most important factor in ensuring a return to stable flows is the resumption of regular transit of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran has effectively blocked the strategic strait since the war started on February 28 with US-Israeli air strikes on Iranian targets.
“Adequate insurance mechanisms and physical protection for shipping are key to the resumption of flows,” the IEA said.