Strategic oil reserves in Asia and Oceania will be released immediately

The International Energy Agency announced on Sunday that reserves from strategic oil reserves in Asia and Oceania will be put on the market immediately, to be followed in late March by American and European reserves, in light of the rise in crude prices as a result of the war in the Middle East.

The agency confirmed in a statement that member states have presented plans to implement this measure, showing that “stocks will be made available by IEA member states in Asia and Oceania immediately, while stocks will be made available by IEA members in the Americas and Europe starting at the end of March.”

The 32 member states of the agency affiliated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development agreed to put about 400 million barrels of oil on the market to compensate for the shortage in supplies resulting from the almost complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on February 28.