The world’s biggest overground energy reserve, the strategic oil reserve held by the 30 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA), may step in to stabilise global markets amid the ongoing Iran-US war and the consequent near-closure of the Gulf of Hormuz over which one-fifth of global oil and gas supply is plied.
It had last stepped in during 2022 to stabilise the global markets and ease the energy crisis that fell upon the world in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war, but this time around, if it intervenes, it would be the biggest release ever.
According to reports, as of March 2026, the IEA member countries—drawn from North America, Europe and Northeast Asia—together hold some 1.2 billion barrels of oil in the public emergency stores. Apart from this, they also hold close to 600 million barrels in mandatory commercial inventories.
This emergency oil reserve can keep the world afloat for 124 days, approximately.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, in a statement, said he had convened a meeting of the G7 energy ministers at IEA headquarters in Paris during which Birol updated them about IEA’s view of the situation in global oil and gas markets due to the war in west Asia.
“In oil markets, conditions have deteriorated in recent days. In addition to the challenges of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a substantial amount of oil production has been curtailed. This is creating significant and growing risks for the market. We discussed all the available options, including making IEA emergency oil stocks available to the market,” Birol said.
The IEA, according to Birol, would meet again “to assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to make emergency stocks of IEA countries available to the market.”
Meanwhile, according to CNBC, the US believes that the release of 300 to 400 million barrels of this emergency reserve would be appropriate for the moment to stabilise the markets.
After the new of the possible intervention of the IEA and talks of release of this reserve, oil prices calmed down from a whopping $120 just a day ago.