325 mln barrels of oil released from strategic reserves: IEA
Around 325 million barrels of oil have been released from strategic reserves, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Saturday, Xinhua reports.
It represented over 80 percent of the 400 million barrels originally pledged from the collective action announced by the IEA in March.
According to an IEA press release, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said Friday during a virtual meeting of Group of Seven (G7) leaders that the energy market impacts of the Strait of Hormuz crisis remained acute, especially in diesel markets. He stressed the IEA's ongoing work to support energy security.
The G7, in coordination with the IEA, will release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and other oil reserves over the next four months, according to a joint G7 leaders' statement released by the Elysee Palace on Friday.
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 move in the IEA's history.
Earlier, Qazinform reported OECD oil inventories dropped to the lowest in more than three decades.