According to the AFP news agency, the IEA said that member countries had already submitted their individual implementation plans, and that Asia and Oceania will receive stocks immediately and releases from the Americas and Europe will begin from the end of March.The agency said a total of 271.7 million barrels of government-managed reserves would be released worldwide under the emergency action.
Asia-Oceania will be the first to obtain oil
The IEA said the first wave of emergency reserves will be available more quickly in the Asia-Pacific region, where supply stress has become particularly acute.“Member countries have submitted individual implementation plans to the IEA. These plans indicate that IEA member countries in Asia and Oceania will make stocks available immediately,” the agency said, according to AFP.“Stocks from IEA member countries in America and Europe will be available from the end of March,” he added.The announcement provides the clearest timeline yet for how the release of emergency stockpiles will be phased in across regions after the agency agreed earlier this week to tap into strategic stockpiles.
The biggest oil crisis in the history of the market, according to the IEA
IEA members agreed on Wednesday to reduce oil reserves in response to war-induced price increases, in what is by far the largest coordinated intervention of its kind ever undertaken.The IEA called the disruption unprecedented and said: “The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”He described the latest emergency release of stockpiles as the sixth in its history and the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, calling it a “significant and welcome buffer.”
Oil prices remain close to $100 despite the movement of reserves
Despite the record intervention, oil prices have not cooled significantly.The announced releases have not had a major impact on crude prices so far, with oil still hovering around $100 a barrel, the highest level since 2022 and well above the sub-$70 levels seen before the war.This reflects market concerns that even a historic release of reserves may not fully offset the loss of supply caused by the disruption of shipping lanes in the Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the key problem
The IEA made it clear that the real solution lies not only in releasing reserves, but in restoring the normal movement of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.“The most important factor in ensuring a return to stable flows is the resumption of regular shipping transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” the agency said.He added that adequate insurance mechanisms and physical protection for maritime transport would be essential for the resumption of flows.Iran has effectively blocked the strategic strait since the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets.The waterway is one of the biggest bottlenecks in the global energy system, typically carrying around a fifth of global oil shipments.
S&P says reserve release may offer only limited relief
S&P Global Energy has warned that the IEA’s broader plan to release 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves may provide only limited relief if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.S&P said the release would help markets adjust to the current imbalance, but noted uncertainty over whether oil will reach regions that need it most, especially Asian markets where inventories are running low, news agency ANI reported.According to Jim Burkhard, vice president and global head of crude oil research at S&P Global Energy, “There is too much oil that cannot be exported through the Strait of Hormuz and not enough in Asia, where stocks are running low. The market is seriously unbalanced and that will continue until the Strait is reopened and upstream and downstream operations return to normal. “It won’t happen quickly.”It would take months for the release of 400 million barrels to offset the roughly 430 million barrel reduction in global supply in March alone.
Pressure on global reserves gains momentum
The Paris-based IEA had previously agreed to make available 400 million barrels of its members’ strategic reserves, far more than the 182.7 million barrels released after the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.IEA member countries currently hold more than 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil reserves, in addition to another 600 million barrels of industrial reserves held under government obligation.He also said that countries such as Germany and Austria have already confirmed that they will release some of their strategic reserves, while Japan said it would begin reducing its stocks from Monday.The latest update from the IEA indicates that the emergency release is now moving from announcement to implementation. But with oil still near $100, tanker flows still disrupted and the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, markets appear to be betting that reserve barrels alone may not be enough to quickly stabilize global energy supplies.