West Asia conflict: India hails IEA move to release emergency oil stocks

India on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) welcomed the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) decision to release emergency oil stocks to stabilise markets amid supply disruptions triggered by escalating tensions in West Asia.

“India, as an associate member of the IEA and an active participant in international energy cooperation, welcomes the IEA’s decision to release emergency oil stocks,” the government said in a statement.

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It added that New Delhi was closely monitoring the “evolving situation in global energy markets”, and stands ready to take “appropriate measures, as necessary, to support global market stability in alignment with the efforts of the International Energy Agency”.

The agency said that the coordinated release would be the largest such intervention in its history and was aimed at easing volatility in global oil markets.

“IEA countries have unanimously decided to launch the largest-ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency’s history. They will be making 400 million barrels of oil available,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.

“This is a major action aiming to alleviate the immediate impacts of the disruption in markets,” he added, while emphasising that restoring transit through the Strait of Hormuz remained critical for stabilising global energy supplies.

The emergency release exceeded the 182 million barrels of oil that member countries of the Paris-based global energy body released in 2022 when Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

The 32-member IEA said that the emergency stocks will be made available “over a timeframe that is appropriate to the national circumstances of each member country and will be supplemented by additional emergency measures by some countries”.

The crude market has been hit by wild volatility since the United States and Israel began striking Iran at the end of last month, with Tehran retaliating by attacking targets across the oil-rich Gulf and effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait normally carries about 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies.

The IEA announcement came as leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies discussed the economic fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now into its second week, at a video conference meeting chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr. Macron urged U.S. President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders to coordinate to open the strait “as soon as possible.”

(With inputs from AFP)