IEA agrees to release of outstanding 100 million barrels of oil

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that member countries agreed to complete the release of 100 million barrels of oil that are still outstanding from an intervention in March to ease rising fuel prices, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The agency said in a statement after a meeting of its governing board on Thursday that the countries will accelerate the distribution of the remaining volumes, including the release of 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible. They have so far tapped 330 million barrels out of 400 million initially pledged in March.

The US Energy Department stated that further actions “with a focus on diesel are under review and in progress.”

Market reaction

At the time of writing, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is up 2.08% on the day at $96.03.