G7 countries prepare to release 100 million bbls from emergency stocks

The Group of Seven (G7) countries and their partners have agreed to release another tranche of emergency oil stocks amid supply concerns following disruption to Saudi oil deliveries.

IMAGE: Flags of the G7 members. Getty Images

The G7 countries will collectively release up to 100 million bbls of emergency crude oil and diesel stocks over the next four months, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a recent press conference.

The release will be coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Macron said. This move is expected to inject government-held reserves into the global oil market that is already grappling with persistent supply shortages and refinery output deficits.

US President Donald Trump welcomed the announcement – which came shortly after the Washington issued another Request for Proposal (RFP) for an exchange of up to 40 million bbls of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) last week.

“Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

In March, the IEA agreed to release a record 400 million bbls of crude oil from the strategic reserves held by its members, after the US-Iran war effectively shut crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz and sent oil prices soaring.

The Paris-based energy agency’s members hold more than 1 billion bbls of emergency oil stockpile in reserves, it said earlier.

A new release of emergency oil stocks will ease some supply concerns in the market, but will offer only a superficial fix, with no ability to restore flows through the Saudi oil pipeline or unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

The G7 consists of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, US – and the “non-enumerated member” EU and Australia.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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