G7 Finance Ministers to Discuss Joint IEA Emergency Oil Reserve Release — 3 Members Including US in Support

The Financial Times reported that G7 finance ministers would meet on Day 10 to discuss a joint release of oil from emergency strategic petroleum reserves, coordinated through the International Energy Agency. Three G7 members — including the United States — had expressed support for the measure before the meeting. A coordinated IEA release involves member countries simultaneously releasing oil from their national strategic petroleum reserves to dampen price spikes. The last such coordinated release was in June 2011 during the Libyan civil war, when 60 million barrels were released over 30 days. The scale of the current crisis is significantly larger: daily supply disruption from Hormuz closure, Iraqi collapse, and Iranian export stoppage amounts to approximately 10-12 million barrels per day — far beyond what strategic reserves can offset for any extended period. The IEA's total member country reserves amount to roughly 4 billion barrels — providing a theoretical 400 days of buffer at the current disruption rate, but markets would exhaust confidence in reserve sustainability long before physical reserves were depleted. The discussion signals that Western governments are now treating the oil price crisis as requiring macroeconomic intervention, not just diplomatic management.