In an attempt to calm prices shaken by the war in Ukraine, the member states of the International Energy Agency will withdraw an additional 120 million barrels from their oil reserves, its executive director, Fatih Birol, announced on Wednesday.
This total includes 60 million barrels that will be withdrawn by the United States, which recently announced that it will use its strategic reserves more.
Birol wrote on Twitter that the IEA “has begun the process of releasing a collective oil stockpile of 120 million barrels (including the 60 million barrels contributed by the United States).”
Joe Biden pledged last week to withdraw more than 180 million barrels of US strategic reserves in an attempt to stem the rise in market prices.
The other 30 countries in the agency agreed, during an extraordinary meeting, to withdraw more of their reserves, but without disclosing the amount.
And the member states of the International Energy Agency pledged in early March to withdraw regarding 62.7 million barrels from its reserves, stressing that they had the possibility of withdrawing more. In total, these countries have 1.5 billion barrels of oil reserves.
The International Energy Agency was established in 1975 to deal with oil shocks.
It has 31 members, including the United States, Japan and many European countries (Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Britain…).
Source: AFP
