The United States and 30 other member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil as an emergency measure to calm markets and stabilize oil prices that have increased substantially since the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The action “is intended to send a strong and unified message to world oil markets that there will be no shortage of supplies as a result of the invasion of Ukraine,” the EIA says in a press release.
The agreement was reached at an emergency ministerial meeting, according to US authorities. The liberalization of the 60 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserves is only the initial amount, as it could increase in the following weeks if this does not calm the tension in the markets.
World crude oil prices were already registering a strong derived from the increase in demand as part of the economic recovery after the height of the pandemic. But the confrontation in Eastern Europe has aroused nervousness in the markets and the price of energy has become the main thermometer of investor uncertainty.
The United States will contribute 30 million barrels, half of the combined reserves committed. Jennifer Granholm, the US energy secretary and chair of the IEA ministerial meeting, told the meeting that the country is willing “to take additional steps if conditions warrant,” a US government statement said.
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