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IEA will release 400mn barrels of emergency oil stocks as Strait of Hormuz remains shut [UPDATED]
11/3/2026
News
International Energy Agency (IEA) Secretary-General Fatih Birol has announced that IEA countries will release 400mn barrels from strategic stocks of oil in reaction to the Middle East conflict, which has disrupted oil shipping.
In a press conference on 11 March, he said: ‘This major action is made aiming to alleviate the major impact on disruption in markets. But to be clear, the most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz.’
On 10 March, at a meeting of G7 energy ministers, he said: ‘In oil markets, conditions have deteriorated in recent days. In addition to the challenges of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a substantial amount of oil production has been curtailed. This is creating significant and growing risks for the market.’
IEA member countries currently hold over 1.2bn barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600mn barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation, he said on 10 March.
According to an IEA report, the war in the region that began on 28 February has impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, with export volumes of crude and refined products currently at less than 10% of pre-conflict levels of 20mn b/d of crude oil and oil products. The Strait is the primary export route for oil and natural gas produced by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran.
Its closure is forcing operators across the Gulf region to shut in or curtail a substantial amount of production. The region’s output of LNG has also been significantly impacted.
It said that oil and natural gas prices have spiked since the start of hostilities. Brent crude futures climbed by 35% through 9 March, and Dutch TTF, the European benchmark for natural gas, was up by 75%. Moreover, some markets for oil products have been particularly affected, including those for diesel and jet fuel.
While global oil inventories were high in 2025, natural gas supply was tight in early 2026. An extended loss of output from the Ras Laffan facility in Qatar could significantly exacerbate this market tightness, said the report. Production was shut down following an attack on the facilities on 2 March. In 2025, Ras Laffan produced 112bn m3 of LNG, as well as 300,000 b/d of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 180,000 b/d of condensate, making it the largest LNG facility in the world by some distance.
About 93% of Qatar’s and 96% of the UAE’s LNG exports transited through the Strait, representing almost one-fifth of global LNG trade, according to the IEA.
An average of 20mn b/d of crude oil and oil products transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Oil and LNG markets would face significant supply disruptions if shipping through the Strait is interrupted for an extended period. Options for oil flows to bypass the Strait of Hormuz are limited, the IEA said.
And that’s not all. Fertiliser supply is particularly exposed. More than 30% of global trade of urea moves through the Strait, along with about 20% of trade of ammonia and phosphate. This creates risks for food prices and security.
UPDATED: Article was updated with new information on 11 March 2026.
