PARIS, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday backed plans to accelerate the release of oil stocks pledged in March 2026, which would put approximately 100 million barrels of oil on the market.
The IEA said its members had green-lighted the completion of previously announced stock releases "as soon as possible," while also supporting the prioritization of diesel stock releases "to the extent possible" given the current tightness in diesel markets.
To date, about 325 million barrels of oil have been released under the March 2026 collective action, with some countries releasing more than they initially pledged, the IEA said.
IEA member governments still have significant publicly-held emergency oil stocks, equivalent to around 1.1 billion barrels, including more than 200 million barrels of diesel. The IEA said it stands ready to release more of these stocks to the market if required.
On March 11, the 32 members of the IEA unanimously agreed to make available to the market 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves, the largest such release in the IEA's history. ■
