❗️IEA backs accelerated release of 100 million oil barrels as Hormuz closure drives fuel prices higher

International Energy Agency (IEA) member governments have backed accelerating the release of oil reserves to bring around 100 million additional barrels to market as fuel prices rise following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said governments reaffirmed their commitment to the March 2026 Collective Action, under which member states agreed to release 400 million barrels from emergency reserves in response to supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The move follows US President Donald Trump's threat to ban US diesel exports unless G7 countries released fuel into global markets. The G7 agreed on 3 October to release 100 million barrels of oil, while Birol said around 325 million barrels have already been released under the wider IEA agreement.

Birol said releasing stocks pledged but not yet deployed would bring about 100 million additional barrels to market, adding that some IEA members had released more than initially pledged.

He said IEA countries still hold around 1.1 billion barrels in publicly held emergency stocks, including more than 200 million barrels of diesel, according to the IEA.