The IEA today said it will make 400mn bl of oil from emergency reserves available to the market.
The move comes after 10 days of extreme volatility in energy prices since the US and Israel began a war with Iran on 28 February. The consequent de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz has shut around 25pc of global seaborne oil trade in the Mideast Gulf, and production, storage and refining assets have become military targets.
The IEA said on Tuesday that this situation had created "significant and growing risks" for the oil market.
Stocks will be released from IEA member countries' mandated inventories, which must be equivalent to at least 90 days of the prior year's net imports. Stocks can be held as either crude, refined products or a combination of the two. The latest IEA data show that North American strategic stocks are overwhelmingly crude, while European and Asian members hold a mix of crude and refined products.
As of the end of 2025, IEA members had 1.25bn bl of oil in public stocks, accounting for around 30pc of total OECD oil inventories.
There is no obligation on the market to take up released stocks, and past IEA releases have sometimes seen less oil taken up than was offered.
This is only the sixth time the IEA has issued an emergency stocks release order since its formation in 1974.
Leaders of the G7 are scheduled to meet later today to discuss the situation in the Mideast Gulf.
