The International Energy Agency announced the release of 400 million barrels from strategic oil reserves to curb prices driven up by the war in Iran.
The release is the largest ever coordinated by the agency, more than doubling the 182 million barrels released in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Oil markets are global so the response to major disruptions needs to be global too,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
The release of barrels is part of a broader effort to counter price increases sparked by the war in Iran, which has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is key for trading. Nearly 20 million barrels of crude oil pass through it daily, about one-fifth of global supply.
IEA said in a statement that the emergency stocks will be released on timelines appropriate to each member country and will be supplemented by additional emergency measures by some countries.
Oil prices have soared since the U.S. and Israel carried out strikes on Iran.
Both Brent crude, the international benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate peaked at $119 per barrel this past weekend. Prices have since come down, but are up about 30% since the war began.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Birol said IEA member countries hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks and have another 600 million barrels of industry stocks under government obligation.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News on Wednesday that “certainly, these are the kinds of moments that these reserves are used for, because what we have here is not a shortage of energy in the world.”
“We’ve got a transit problem which is temporary,” he added. “When you have a temporary transit problem that we’re resolving militarily and diplomatically, which we can resolve and will resolve, this is the perfect time to think about releasing some of those to take some pressure off of the global price.”
The Trump administration has yet to tap the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address the spike in oil prices. President Donald Trump has criticized former President Joe Biden for releasing oil from the SPR to address the increase in prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration sold 180 million barrels from the SPR, sending levels to record lows.
Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s SPR drawdowns, arguing that it puts national security at risk. The Trump administration has vowed to replenish the reserve, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said that repairs are needed for the facilities in order to bring them to full capacity because they were drawn down too quickly. At the end of 2025, SPR crude oil was at 411 million barrels, according to the Energy Department, versus a total capacity of 714 million barrels.
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The Group of Seven nations have met over the past two days but have not committed to a joint release of more oil. French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host another video conference call on Wednesday morning with leaders of the G7.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her country would begin to release oil from its strategic reserves as early as Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Japan plans to release 15 days’ worth of oil from private-sector stockpiles and another 30 days from government reserves.
