IEA to accelerate oil reserve release, says 100 million barrels still to come

By Kate Abnett and Holger Hansen

BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The International Energy Agency agreed on Wednesday to accelerate the release of oil stocks and to prioritise diesel supplies under a plan launched in March, as governments seek to tackle record fuel prices and supply disruptions caused by the Iran war.

Wars in Iran and Ukraine have damaged refineries and disrupted tanker traffic, helping drive diesel prices to record highs in many markets and turning the fuel into a major political and economic concern worldwide.

The IEA said completing previously announced releases as quickly as possible could bring around 100 million barrels to market, although analysts and some governments said the figure did not necessarily represent a fresh intervention of that size.

The statement from the IEA, which advises industrialised countries, followed an agreement by G7 countries on Friday to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel, which raised expectations of additional oil stock releases. The G7 move came after President Donald Trump warned he might ban US diesel exports if they did not put more of the fuel into the market.

The IEA, which coordinates emergency oil stockpiles among industrialised countries, launched a 400-million-barrel release programme in March to counter shortages and rising prices caused by the Iran war, although not all of those volumes have yet reached the market.

"Member governments expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases announced in the Collective Action of March 2026 with a view to completing them as soon as possible," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in the statement.

"IEA members also supported the prioritisation of the release of diesel stocks, to the extent possible, given the current tightness in diesel markets."

The IEA said about 100 million barrels pledged under the March initiative have yet to reach the market.

The IEA did not specify how much diesel and how much crude oil will be released.

In reaction to the IEA comment, the European Union member states agreed the planned oil releases must be done within the amount approved in March, a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Wednesday.

IEA members are scheduled to assess and review the plans at a board meeting next week, the statement said.

The G7 includes EU members France, Germany and Italy along with the US, UK, Japan and Canada.

EXTENT OF NEW VOLUME NOT CLEAR

Before the IEA statement, JPMorgan analysts said Friday's announcement appeared largely to accelerate deliveries already pledged under the March programme rather than signal a fresh intervention.

"Our interpretation of the press release is that the headline 100 million barrels does not represent 100 million barrels of new intervention," the bank said in a report.

Germany's Economy Ministry said it was working to approve releases from reserves under the March plan but gave no indication of any new volume.

"Germany will participate in the further release of the volume already determined by the IEA in March," the ministry said in a statement.

IEA member governments still have publicly held emergency oil stocks equivalent to around 1.1 billion barrels, including over 200 million barrels of diesel, the IEA's statement said.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Holger Hansen and Forrest Crellin; Additional reporting by Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw and Inti Landauro; writing by Nina Chestney and Alex Lawler; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Jan Harvey, Joe Bavier, Jason Neely and Elaine Hardcastle)