IEA nations to counter West Asia crisis with mega oil release; India welcomes move

Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) -- a Paris-based energy watchdog -- unanimously agreed to release an unprecedented 400 million barrels of crude oil from their emergency reserves, according to an official statement released on Wednesday. The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of 32 member nations the previous day.

The move aims to counter disruptions in the oil market stemming from the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Analysts say IEA supplies are set to stabilise crude oil prices, which rose to their highest in four years this week. Brent crude was last seen trading at $92.4 a barrel in Wednesday's trade.

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Welcoming the IEA's decision, the Indian government said that it is closely monitoring the situation in global energy markets, particularly in the Middle East. India is an Associate Member of the IEA and an active participant in international energy cooperation.

"India stands ready to take appropriate measures, as necessary, to support global market stability in alignment with the efforts of the International Energy Agency," read an official statement.

Middle East oil disruption? IEA to rescue

Here are 10 things to know about the IEA move:

• This marks the Paris-headquartered body's 6th coordinated stock release since its founding in 1974.
• The release of reserves is aimed at stabilising the global oil market amid disruptions from the Middle East situation, said the IEA.
• Global disruptions require a global coordinated response, IEA ED Fatih Birol said at a press conference.
• “The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore I am very glad that IEA Member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size,” said Birol. “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,” he noted.
• IEA member countries collectively hold more than 1.2 billion barrels of emergency oil reserves, plus an additional 600 million barrels in industry stocks.
• The development comes at a time when the Israel-US-Iran conflict is approaching the end of its second week. The situation arose with joint US-Israel strikes against Tehran that killed Iran's Supreme Leader and then triggered Iran's retaliatory action against several countries across the Middle East.
• The broader conflict has severely dented energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that about one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies pass through.
• The IEA said it will release further implementation details going forward.
• Founded in 1974, in response to the oil crisis, the IEA is an intergovernmental organisation coordinates emergency oil stock releases among its member countries during periods of supply disruptions. It works with governments and industries for a secure and sustainable energy future for all.
• Previous releases by the IEA occurred once each in 1991, 2005 and 2011, and twice in 2022.