The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recommended a release of 400 million barrels of oil from stockpiles, the largest such move in IEA history, Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Wednesday.
The 32 IEA member countries unanimously agreed to make available 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to the market, Birol said at a press conference.
The release would take place over a timeframe appropriate to the national circumstances of each member country, he added.
Birol said the IEA secretariat will provide further details of how this collective action will be implemented in due course, and the agency will continue to closely monitor global oil and gas markets.
IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
The conflict in the Middle East has impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with export volumes of crude and refined products falling to less than 10 percent of pre-conflict levels, according to the IEA.
The move to release emergency oil reserves came ahead of an online meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) leaders, scheduled later in the day, to discuss the economic consequences of the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.
The G7 energy ministers, under the French presidency, met via videoconference on Tuesday against a backdrop of heightened volatility in oil prices. On Monday, the price for Brent crude, the international benchmark, briefly climbed to around 119 U.S. dollars per barrel, its highest level since mid-2022.
In a statement released earlier on Wednesday, the ministers said that in principle they support the implementation of proactive measures to address the situation, including the use of strategic reserves.
IEA members agree to release emergency oil reserves amid Mideast turmoil
A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday slammed Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te over his latest remarks on cross-Strait relations, accusing him of promoting secessionism and escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in a press release that Lai's speech marking his second anniversary in office was "filled with lies and deception, hostility and confrontation."
Chen accused Lai of stubbornly adhering to a secessionist stance in pursuit of "Taiwan independence," while exaggerating the so-called threats from the mainland and intensifying confrontation across the Strait.
Lai played an old trick of advocating the secessionist agenda on one hand and, on the other, calling insincerely for dialogue and exchanges with the mainland, attempting to mislead people in Taiwan and deceive the international community, he said.
Chen said that these common tricks have been seen through by more and more Taiwanese people. Their deceptive and provocative actions will be met with firm opposition from compatriots on both sides and the international community, and are doomed to fail.
Reaffirming the mainland's position on the Taiwan question, Chen said Taiwan has never been a country, is not one now, and will never become one in the future.
He described the Taiwan question as a historical issue left over from a Chinese civil war in the 1940s.
No election result in Taiwan could alter the fact that Taiwan is part of China or sever the historical and legal bonds linking the two sides of the Strait, according to Chen.
The mainland would never allow any person or force to pursue secessionist activities under any pretext, he added.
Calling secessionists "the chief culprit" who undermines cross-Strait peace, Chen said the mainland would continue to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, unite broadly with Taiwan compatriots, combat secessionist activities, and safeguard peace and stability across the Strait.
Central government spokesperson refutes Lai Ching-te's latest remarks, warns against secessionist moves
