March 12, 2026 | 04:22 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, stated on Wednesday that the organization recommends the release of 400 million barrels of oil from reserves, the largest step in IEA's history, in response to the increasing conflict in the Middle East.
"The 32 member countries unanimously agreed to make available to the market 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves," Birol announced in a press conference as reported by Xinhua and quoted by Antara.
The release of the oil reserves will be carried out in accordance with the national conditions of each member country, he added.
According to Birol, the IEA secretariat will provide further details on how this collective action will be implemented in due course, and the organization will continue to closely monitor the global oil and gas markets.
IEA revealed that the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, with the current crude oil and refined product exports falling to less than 10 percent of pre-conflict levels.
The emergency oil reserves release comes ahead of an online meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) scheduled to address the economic consequences of the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.
On Tuesday, amid increasing oil price volatility, the energy ministers of the G7, led by France, held a video conference meeting.
On Monday, the price of Brent crude oil, an international benchmark, briefly rose to around 119 U.S. dollars (1 U.S. dollar = Rp16,867) per barrel, the highest level since mid-2022.
In a statement released earlier on Wednesday, the ministers expressed their fundamental support for proactive measures to address this situation, including the use of strategic reserves.
Read: Middle East War Triggers US to Release 172 Million Barrels of Oil Reserves
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