The International Energy Agency has begun the largest emergency oil release in its fifty-year history after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively paralysed following the war of agression by the United States and Israel on Iran.
The vital maritime corridor, through which about 22 million barrels of oil normally pass each day, has ground to a halt, trapping roughly 15 million barrels daily and unsettling global energy markets.
In response, the agency has instructed its 32 member states, including the United Kingdom, to release four hundred million barrels from emergency reserves into the global supply chain.
The drawdown, roughly one third of the coalition’s stockpiles, is intended to replace the missing supply, calm markets and bring prices down after Brent crude surged close to one hundred and twenty dollars a barrel. It is more than double the amount released in 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and marks the largest coordinated release in the agency’s history.
“Oil markets are global so the response to major disruptions needs to be global, too. Energy security is the founding mandate of the IEA, and I am pleased that IEA members are showing strong solidarity in taking decisive action together”, said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a statement.
Under the agency’s charter, members must maintain reserves equivalent to at least ninety days of normal crude imports, a safeguard designed for crises of this scale.
The Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, announced the immediate release of eighty million barrels, a practical step for an island nation that receives seventy per cent of its hydrocarbon imports through the now-blockaded strait. European governments are also mobilising strategic stores.
Germany’s economy minister, Ms Katherina Reiche, pledged nearly 20 million barrels, stating that “We will comply with this request and contribute our share, because Germany stands behind the IEA’s most important principle: mutual solidarity.”
The UK, whose mandated reserves are held through private industry agreements across domestic refineries and overseas terminals, is likewise bound to take part in the historic draw-down.
Yet the 400 million barrels amount to only about 20 days of the oil that would normally move through the Strait of Hormuz. Few expect the measure to substitute for reopening the passage itself. At least 13 commercial vessels have recently been attacked and Iranian military officials have warned that crude could reach 200 dollars a barrel.
Although prices have eased to around 90 dollars, oil edged slightly higher when the release was announced.