BRUSSELS - A group of European countries has announced plans to release emergency oil stocks after the International Energy Agency (IEA) recommended a record drawdown from reserves to help calm surging energy prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said Wednesday that the agency's 32 member countries had unanimously agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil available to the market from their emergency reserves. The move aims to address disruptions in global oil markets caused by the conflict in the Middle East, particularly the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route for energy and food supplies.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint strikes on Tehran and several other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and US assets in the Middle East.

According to the IEA, the conflict has severely disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with exports of crude and refined products currently at less than 10 percent of pre-conflict levels.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, briefly climbed to around $119 per barrel on Monday, its highest level since mid-2022, before easing to $87.57 on Wednesday.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Wednesday that "since the beginning of the conflict, gas prices have risen by 50 percent and oil prices by 27 percent."

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Speaking after a videoconference of leaders from the Group of Seven (G7), French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that France will release 14.5 million barrels of strategic oil reserves.

Germany will release 19.51 million barrels from its strategic reserves, Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche said, adding that the country will act in line with the IEA's principle of solidarity.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom said it will contribute 13.5 million barrels of oil to help shield consumers from short-term global supply disruptions that could trigger price volatility and harm the global economy, according to a government press release.

Other European IEA member states have also announced their contributions. The Netherlands will release 5.36 million barrels from its national strategic reserves, about 20 percent of its total stockpile, Climate and Green Growth Minister Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer said Wednesday.

Austria will begin releasing 325,000 tonnes of crude oil from its strategic reserves as part of the joint effort to stabilize global energy markets, according to Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer.

Luis Montenegro, prime minister of Portugal, said the country will release about 10 percent of its strategic oil reserves.

Meanwhile, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania also said they are prepared to release emergency oil stocks to the market.

According to the IEA, its member states collectively hold emergency oil reserves of more than 1.2 billion barrels, in addition to around 600 million barrels of industry stocks maintained under government obligations.

US to release 172 million barrels from strategic reserve

On Wednesday, the United States announced that it will release 172 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

"Earlier today, 32 member nations of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to President Trump's request to lower energy prices with a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products from their respective reserves," US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement.

"As part of this effort, President (Donald) Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, beginning next week," Wright said. "This will take approximately 120 days to deliver based on planned discharge rates."

The United States has arranged to replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year, Wright added.