The International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history to bring down crude prices that have soared due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The release would exceed the 182 million barrels of oil that IEA member countries put onto the market in two releases in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, WSJ said.
The IEA is convening an extraordinary meeting of its member states on Tuesday, and countries are expected to decide on the proposal on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal said. The proposal would be adopted if none objects, the newspaper said, but even one country’s protests could delay the plan.
U.S. crude and Brent crude futures dropped after the report.
The IEA and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Benchmark oil prices surged to almost four-year highs on Monday but lost ground on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon.
G7 energy ministers stopped short of agreeing on a release of strategic oil reserves on Tuesday and instead asked the IEA to assess the situation before acting.
(Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo in Mexico City; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Tom Hogue)