WSJ: Due to the war in the Middle East, the International Energy Agency proposes to release the largest oil reserves in history

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed releasing the largest ever volume of oil reserves to the market to reduce crude oil prices, which have risen amid the war in the Middle East.

This is reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the situation.

According to them, this idea was discussed at an emergency meeting of energy officials from 32 IEA member countries on March 10.

The organization can vote on the proposal to introduce oil reserves as early as today, March 11. But the decision can only be made unanimously.

The proposed amount of oil that the IEA could take from reserves exceeds 182 million barrels. That’s more than was released in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to officials, the move should lower global prices, which have already jumped 40% since the start of the US and Israeli military operation against Iran.

The IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the agencyʼs member countries have 1.2 billion barrels in public reserves and another 600 million in mandatory commercial reserves. This could cover about 124 days without oil supplies from the Persian Gulf.

What preceded

After the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Iran responded by shelling US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE and by launching missile strikes on Israel. Some Iranian drones and missiles have been hitting infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries.

At the same time, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has almost stopped. This is a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. About a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports pass through it — tens of millions of barrels a day. The markets reacted instantly: oil, gas and precious metals rose in price.

In particular, on March 9, world oil prices exceeded $100 per barrel for the first time in almost four years. However, they began to fall after US President Donald Trump declared that the war between Israel, the US and Iran was almost over.

He also announced that the US would lift sanctions against “certain countries” to lower oil prices. Brent crude is currently trading at around $85 a barrel.

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