IEA announces release of 325 million barrels of oil

The International Energy Agency indicated this Saturday that almost a sixth of the strategic oil reserves of member states had been sold since March, when the G7 decided to draw on these stocks. Some 325 million barrels of strategic reserves of oil and petroleum products have been released to date, out of the 400 million promised by the G7 in March, the International Energy Agency announced on Saturday.

The day before, the G7 had announced “a coordinated release, by the IEA, of 100 million barrels, which will begin immediately”, without specifying in its press release whether these 100 million barrels included the remaining 75 million provided for in the commitment made on March 11, or if they brought a total commitment to 500 million barrels. According to the IEA in a statement on Saturday, “around 325 million barrels of the IEA collective action announced on March 11 have been released so far, representing 80% of the 400 million barrels originally promised.”

Stocks planned since 1974

On March 11, it specified that its member states held “emergency stocks” of “more than 1.2 billion barrels, with an additional 600 million barrels of stocks retained by the industry by government obligation”. Released stocks therefore represent 18% of this total. These stocks have been planned since 1974, the year following the oil shock triggered by the Yom Kippur War, with the aim of countering sudden tensions on supply.