IEA Emergency Oil Stock Release

To maintain the stability of global oil prices, several member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) are prepared to release their emergency oil reserves to increase global supply.

Previously, in March 2022, the IEA released 61 million barrels of emergency oil reserves.

Then, in April 2022, the IEA committed to a larger release of emergency oil reserves, totaling 120 million barrels.

The United States (US) made the largest contribution to this stock release.

The following details the IEA member countries with the largest commitments to release oil reserves as of April 7, 2022:

1. US: 60.5 million barrels
2. Japan: 15 million barrels
3. South Korea: 7.23 million barrels
4. Germany: 6.48 million barrels
5. France: 6.04 million barrels
6. Italy: 5 million barrels
7. UK: 4.4 million barrels
8. Spain: 4 million barrels
9. Turkey: 3.06 million barrels
10. Poland: 2.29 million barrels
11. Australia: 1.6 million barrels
12. Netherlands: 1.6 million barrels

In addition to the above, several other IEA member countries have committed to releasing oil reserves of less than 1 million barrels per country.

“(This) reflects the determination of member countries to protect the global economy from the socio-economic impacts of oil price shocks due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine,” explained IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol in a press statement on Thursday, April 7, 2022.

“This latest collective action once again demonstrates the unity of IEA member countries in their solidarity with Ukraine, and their determination to provide stability to the oil market in these challenging times,” he continued.

The IEA also stated that its members are prepared to increase the supply of emergency reserves in the coming months.

“Over the next six months, approximately 240 million barrels of emergency oil reserves, or more than 1 million barrels per day, will be available to the global market,” the IEA stated in its press release (April 7, 2022).

The IEA claims that cumulatively, its member countries have 1.5 billion barrels of public oil reserves, plus 575 million barrels of industrial reserves.

Thus, the stock released to the global market during the March-April 2022 period represents only about 9% of their total reserves.

(Also Read: Not Saudi Arabia, This is the Country with the Largest Oil Reserves in the World)