The International Energy Agency announced on Sunday that strategic oil reserves in Asia and Oceania will be immediately released to the market, followed by reserves from the US and Europe at the end of March, amid rising oil prices due to the war in the Middle East. The agency confirmed in a statement that member countries have presented plans to implement this measure, showing that «reserves from IEA member countries in Asia and Oceania will be made available immediately, while reserves from IEA members in the Americas and Europe will be available from the end of March». The 32 member countries of the agency, which is part of the OECD, agreed to release about 400 million barrels of oil to the market to compensate for the supply deficit caused by the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on February 28.
