Oil prices fell Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon, easing fears over prolonged global oil disruptions.
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The International Energy Agency will convene an extraordinary meeting of its member countries Tuesday to discuss a possible release of oil stockpiles to address the supply disruption triggered by the Iran war.
The more than 30 members will “assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to make emergency stocks […] available to the market,” IEA chief Fatih Birol said in a statement.
The IEA’s members are advanced economies primarily in North America, Europe and Northeast Asia. They collectively hold about 1.2 billion barrels of oil in reserve. Another 600 million barrles is held in industry stocks under government obligation.
Energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations met earlier Tuesday to discuss options to address the supply disruption, Birol said. The G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They are also IEA members.
The U.S. believes a joint release of 300 million to 400 million barrels, representing 25% to 30% of the 1.2 billion barrels held in reserve, would be appropriate, sources told CNBC on Monday.
Oil tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted as vessels are worried about threats from Iran. This has triggered the biggest oil supply disruption in history, according to an analysis by consulting firm Rapidan Energy. About 20% of the world’s petroleum consumption passed through the Strait before the war broke out.
Gulf Arab oil producers have cut output because they are struggling to export their crude through the Strait due to the war. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned Tuesday that the Iran war will have “catastropic consequences” for the global oil market the longer the war rages.
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