Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) are set to discuss a possible coordinated release of crude from strategic reserves as oil prices surge following the escalating conflict in the Middle East, according to reports from the Financial Times and the Australian Financial Review.
The emergency meeting, which will also involve the head of the International Energy Agency, is expected to examine the potential release of between 300 million and 400 million barrels of crude oil from global strategic stockpiles.
News of the possible intervention triggered a brief selloff in oil markets, trimming recent gains in Brent and West Texas Intermediate. Both benchmarks, however, remained above $100 per barrel, reflecting continued geopolitical risk premiums.
The proposed release would exceed the coordinated action taken in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when the IEA organised the release of 240 million barrels from member countries’ reserves. At the time, the United States supplied roughly half of the total volume.
According to the Financial Times, at least three IEA member countries, including the United States, have expressed interest in participating in a joint stockpile release to calm markets.
The discussion marks a shift from the position expressed last week by Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, who had said global oil markets were well supplied and that no emergency action was under consideration.
“There is plenty of oil, we have no oil shortage,” Birol said after meeting Ursula von der Leyen and other European Commission officials in Brussels.
Market dynamics have since shifted sharply amid rising fears that the widening Middle East conflict could disrupt oil shipments from major Gulf producers.
Any prolonged disruption, particularly to tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz, could remove millions of barrels per day from global supply.
Analysts cautioned that even a coordinated release of up to 400 million barrels may have only a limited impact on prices if geopolitical tensions persist and supply risks remain elevated.
