NorthAmOil: IEA members to release 60mn barrels amid Ukraine conflict

International Energy Agency (IEA) members led by the US agreed on March 1 to a co-ordinated release of crude oil from emergency stockpiles.
The decision comes in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, and will result in 60mn barrels of oil being released onto the market. Half of the volume will come from the US.
The IEA consists of 31 members. They made the decision to co-ordinate a release at an extraordinary meeting that was chaired by US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in her capacity as the chair of this year’s IEA Ministerial Meeting.
IEA members hold a combined 1.5bn barrels of emergency stockpiles. The initial 60mn barrel drawdown accounts for 4% of those stockpiles, and is equivalent to 2mn barrels per day (bpd) over a 30-day period.
The co-ordinated release is the IEA’s fourth since its creation in 1974, the agency noted in a statement. It previously took collective actions in 1991, 2005 and 2011.
Granholm said in a separate statement that the US stood ready to take additional measures if necessary, following the initial 30mn barrel release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
But while the US government is releasing oil from its SPR, it is resisting calls for domestic producers to ramp up output. On February 27, White House press secretary Jen Psaki described calls for the US to boost its own oil production as a "misdiagnosis".