Paris, March 11 (SANA) The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Wednesday a massive, coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves. This move, the largest in the organization’s history, is aimed at curbing the soaring prices of crude oil and addressing the critical supply disruptions caused by the current regional instability.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters that the challenges currently facing the oil market are “unprecedented in scale.” He confirmed that all 32 member states voted unanimously in favor of this emergency collective action, demonstrating a unified global response to the energy crisis.
According to the agency, the emergency stocks will be made available to the market within a timeframe tailored to the national conditions of each member state. The IEA noted that its members currently hold emergency reserves exceeding 1.2 billion barrels, in addition to another 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government mandates.
This historic intervention marks only the sixth time the IEA has authorized a coordinated release since its inception. Previous releases occurred in 1991 (Gulf War), 2005 (Hurricane Katrina), 2011 (Libyan civil war), and twice during the global energy shock of 2022. Today’s withdrawal of 400 million barrels significantly dwarfs all previous emergency measures, reflecting the severity of the supply threats emerging from the Middle East.
