Biden says 30 countries joining US release of oil reserves
The outbreak of war in Ukraine has sent prices for the fuel up sharply and led to major economies, such as the United States and Canada, sanctioning Russia by banning imports of oil (Photo: AFP/File/SEBASTIEN BOZON)
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said on Friday (Apr 1) that more than 30 countries have joined the United States in tapping national oil reserves to try and settle global energy markets spooked by fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"This morning, over 30 countries from across the world convened in an extraordinary meeting and agreed to the release of tens of millions of additional barrels of oil onto the market," Biden said in an address from the White House.
The member countries of the International Energy Agency, however, did not agree on volumes or timing for the release at their emergency meeting, said Hidechika Koizumi, director of the international affairs division at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
"In light of the current situation ... the participants in the IEA meeting agreed on the additional release itself, but they could not agree on the total volume and the allocation of each country," Koizumi told reporters.
"The details will be discussed between the IEA secretariat and the member countries," he said, adding that details could be agreed "within the next week or so".
The 31-member IEA representing industrialised nations but not Russia last presided over the largest coordinated oil release in its history on Mar 1 of nearly 62 million barrels, about half of which was contributed by the United States.
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On Thursday, Biden announced a record release from the US strategic oil stockpile, pledging a million barrels a day for six months.
The bold measure, by far the biggest use of the strategic stockpile in history, aims to cool down the overheated global oil market and calm inflationary shockwaves ripping through the American economy.
Biden says soaring fuel costs for ordinary Americans are the result of oil price spikes on world markets triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions against Russia, which is second biggest exporter of crude after Saudi Arabia.
Oil prices steadied Friday, briefly dropping under US$100 a barrel.
